


Horsemen

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: The 714 Marvel Universe [45]
Category: Avengers (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers
Genre: Afterlife, Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 97,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25768948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: Things have OBVIOUSLY been way too easy for the X-Men, Avengers, and Younger generations of both teams. That's okay though. That never lasts - especially when they all managed to miss all the warning signs that were blinking at them the whole time. Eventually, this was bound to happen. But who's in the cross hairs?
Relationships: Billy Kaplan/Teddy Altman, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff, James Howlett/K Howlett(OC), Jubilation Lee/Noh-Varr, Kate Bishop/Kurt Wagner, Scott Summers/Annie Hale (OC), Tony Stark/Pepper Potts
Series: The 714 Marvel Universe [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/552748
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Where Did The Stars Go?

The best part about having an anniversary on Valentine's Day, Teddy was sure, was the fact that there were always so many options for romantic getaways. Restaurants that had couples' specials, resorts that were set up for some private chartered weekends, that sort of thing.

It had been twenty-one years since he and Billy got married, and since it was an odd year, that meant he got to pick where they were going; Billy picked on even years. At least, that was the theory, though obviously, they tried to pick places that they both would appreciate.

He thought it would be nice to do something a little bit simpler than last year, like a picnic on the beach. The kids were old enough now that they wouldn't mind being home alone for the day — and besides, Sammy had a date with one of the boys from the school, so really, it was Harry's own fault that he hadn't gotten up the nerve to ask someone this year.

He had the picnic packed and ready to go, which meant that all he had left was to tell Billy where they were going so he could get them there in a blink. Grinning to himself, he knocked on the door. "You ready yet or do you need another hour to get the white streak just right?" he teased.

But, to his surprise, there was no answer.

Teddy frowned. "Billy?" he tried again, though once more, there was silence on the other side of the door.

* * *

Billy _had_ been getting ready for the date, humming to himself slightly, though when the future suddenly shifted, he froze in what he was doing, his eyes wide.

For a long time, Billy had been seeing an ominous sort of cloud building, but nothing had _solidified_. He'd been seeing about six or seven different possible futures, all of them bad, no matter what Billy did to try to shift it. It was hard to figure out what to do when the plans weren't solid.

But now, apparently, plans had been made, and the future shifted right in front of his gaze.

It happened all at once. Death and despair and so much pain on so many different levels that Billy had to sit down, his hand over his fast-beating heart. He wasn't sure where he should _start_. There were so many people that needed to be warned.

Including himself.

He forced his attention back to the present so that he could tell Teddy that something was wrong, but the moment he blinked away from his visions of outright devastation, he found himself face-to-face with a huge gray-skinned man, that he immediately recognized from a hundred other dimensions where he ruled the Earth.

"Oh. Apocalypse. That explains so much," Billy breathed out.

His eyes and hands started to glow as he prepared to take on the legendary monster in his room, but he clearly hadn't been fast enough blinking out of his visions of the future, and Apocalypse simply reached out, eyes glowing, to grab Billy's head with both of his hands.

"For all your power, at the heart, there is only weakness," the monster said. "And I have no use for the weak in this world."

Before Billy could object to that — and he did have a sassy response; it was right on the tip of his tongue — it was like the concentration that he had worked so hard to ground him to the reality he was in simply… wasn't there. Very suddenly, he was cycling through realities. One moment, he was standing with Teddy; another moment, he was standing in the ruins of Avengers Tower.

Billy froze, completely unsure of whether he was just looking into other realities or actually traveling between them, though whatever Apocalypse had done, it seemed to be targeted particularly to realities that he ruled.

Billy didn't dare to take a step in any direction, not when at times, there was nothing beneath his feet. He could walk right into a mass grave … or a mass execution ... or - or …

"Teddy?" he called out tentatively, though almost as soon as the name was out of his mouth, he saw his husband further out, in the grips of one of Apocalypse's horsemen. Logan, as Death, was cutting into him mercilessly.

"Teddy!" he shouted, abandoning his earlier caution to run toward the scene, but before he could get there, the scene shifted again, and this time, Sammy and Harry were there, recently dead, with Angel still standing over them with his wings dripping in their blood.

He kept trying to run after his family — Tommy, Lorna, Erik, Teddy, all of them — but it never worked. He couldn't get there. And every time he started a spell, the scene would shift.

* * *

When Teddy heard Billy screaming for him, he didn't hesitate to break down the door and rush inside, though he hadn't been expecting to see Billy looking like the world was ending. His eyes were completely black instead of spinning with the usual galaxies, and he ran almost right into Teddy, though he didn't seem to register that Teddy was even there when Teddy caught him.

"Billy, come on, whatever this is, whatever you're seeing, you need to come back to me now," Teddy said, running his hands through Billy's hair, taking his face in his hands, trying to get him to focus.

Billy clearly couldn't see what was actually going on around him; he wasn't aware of Teddy at all, even when Teddy pulled him into the best kiss he could manage. Long and lingering and not at all polite. But that wasn't working either. Billy still couldn't see what was happening around him, and to Teddy's further concern, tears were slipping down Billy's cheeks.

When it was crystal clear that nothing Teddy was doing was working, he called for help, obviously terrified as he gently brought Billy to the ground so at least he wasn't standing there.

"What's going on?" Steve asked when he rushed in to Teddy's calls. He stopped just inside the door, his mouth partly open as he took in the scene. "I'll … I'll call Doc Strange."

Teddy nodded numbly as he pulled Billy's head to his chest. "I don't know what happened," he said. "He was _fine_."

Steve didn't leave the room as he made the call, his focus purely on Billy, since clearly, this wasn't something that they'd be able to handle alone. The explanation was short and without more detail than: "Billy's unresponsive, vacant stare, Teddy can't … he's not even responding to Teddy."

"The galaxies are gone," Teddy said softly, running his hands through Billy's hair again and trying desperately to get Billy to look at him.

Steve paused and tipped his mouth closer to the phone. "Teddy says the galaxies are gone. Is that … I didn't think that was possible."

Doctor Strange was quiet for a moment on the other end as he thought about it. "I'll be there shortly," he said at last — and true to his word, hardly a moment had passed before he stepped through a portal to see for himself what was happening.

He frowned when he looked between the three men and crouched down to look over Billy for himself, his frown deepening the more he saw. "This isn't magic," he said at last, straightening up when he was through.

"Well what is it?" Steve asked, frowning deeply as Strange stood and stared down at Billy.

"It's his power — his _mutation_ ," Strange said. "It's gone completely beyond his control." He looked over at Steve and tried to explain it better. "It's much like Cyclops once was — unable to stop his powers from being fully _on_ — but for Wiccan, that means endless worlds."

"So … we should get him to the X-Men, right?" Steve said, clearly needing something to latch onto so he could _do_ something. There really wasn't much that Steve hated more than to feel helpless while those he cared about were in trouble.

"They would likely be his best chance," Strange agreed, though he was frowning hard. "This is outside of my ability to rectify. I can help him shape his spells, but his actual mutation — that is another matter."

Steve nodded, his hands on his hips as he weighed out his options. "Alright. Teddy ... can you .. we need to get him there. I'll call Cyclops and give them a heads up."

Teddy nodded, still clutching Billy to him and trying to reassure him, even if he wasn't responding at all. "I — I'm going with him," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Of course," Strange said in an almost gentle tone. "You may well be the only chance he has to find his way back home." But he frowned and pulled Steve aside once Steve had made the call to the mansion. "His power grew exponentially before he became the Demiurge," he told Steve in a low tone. "Have you noticed any difference in his power? Any indication that he was going through another power shift?"

Steve shook his head seriously. "No, he was just _Billy_ earlier. He hasn't had any surges or changes of any kind that I've noticed at all."

Strange nodded thoughtfully. "I haven't noticed anything either," he admitted. "Now the question is this: Is this a natural change to his mutation or has something _happened_?"

"I … don't even know where to begin on that," Steve said. "Maybe someone there will be able to figure it out."

Strange nodded and rested his hand on Steve's shoulder. "I'm going back to the sanctum. I will try to find something there about this kind of thing. But I'm sure you know, with Billy, the rules of magic don't always fit. He's a mutant as well as a sorceror." He looked back toward Teddy and Billy and let out a sigh. "I'll let you know if I find anything," he said before he headed out, leaving the group of Avengers to wait for the X-Men to arrive.

* * *

It wasn't long at all before Kurt teleported into the tower, looking concerned — even more so when he saw the way Teddy was curled around his husband. He didn't hesitate to get both of them to Henry's lab and then returned for Steve so he could explain what was going on — seeing as Teddy didn't look like he was quite capable of doing anything but holding onto Billy at the moment.

As Steve explained what had happened, Henry nodded seriously and then put his hand on Teddy's shoulder. "We should move him to a more specialized suite," he said. "If this is a power surge, and he can't control his powers, I think it would be best for his own safety and others' to set him up somewhere his powers are dampened."

Teddy nodded numbly at that, still holding onto Billy. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, okay."

Hank tried to give him a reassuring a smile before he crossed the lab in two bounds to find an inhibitor collar so they could hopefully ask Billy what it was that had happened once he was depowered. He returned just as quickly, and with Teddy's assistance, he gently snapped the collar onto Billy.

For a few moments after the lights turned on indicating that the collar was activated, Billy's eyes seemed to clear, but almost as soon as he blinked out of it and looked up at Teddy, the mechanism started to fritz — complete with sparks shooting out of the lock — and he sank right back into whatever it was he had been seeing before.

"He was back," Teddy said, spinning to face Hank with an openly desperate expression. "We have to try again."

Hank let out a sigh and nodded, though he knew that it would only give Teddy false hope. When a second and third collar had the same results, it was clear that Billy's powers simply weren't going to stand still long enough for it to work — it was too much of a combination of magic and mutation.

"Perhaps," Kurt said softly to Hank, "it would be kinder to sedate him. Whatever he is seeing… it can't be good."

"Likely," Hank replied, looking completely disheartened by the idea. "It's not a long-term solution of course. Perhaps we should look beyond our own assets. It's entirely likely that James can bulk up one of the collars."

"I'm sure," Kurt said. "I have faith that we'll be able to figure this out. There are too many people who love him for this to go on for too long."

Hank nodded as he drew up a measure of sedative for Billy, apologizing profusely to both Billy and Teddy as he administered the injection. "Kurt will get in touch with James, and perhaps he can help us to reinforce one of these collars long enough to get some answers."

Teddy nodded slowly. "I'll stay here," he said, brushing Billy's hair back away from his now-closed eyes. "I don't want him to be alone."

Kurt rested a hand on Teddy's shoulder. "I'm sure you can stay in one of the rooms available here until we've solved this mystery," he said.

"Thanks," Teddy said almost mechanically before he managed to give Kurt a small smile and then went back to holding Billy's hand.


	2. Death

Seeing as it was Valentine's Day, all of the couples of Xaviers were celebrating in their own ways. Annie had worked up her usual smorgasbord of sweets and heart-shaped cookies and delicacies for the population of the school, but most of the older kids and couples had been peeling off in pairs all afternoon headed to one cafe, pizza joint, or otherwise age appropriate romantic retreat to celebrate with their sweethearts.

But Elin and Chance had been sure to get their other favorite couple out of the house, since most of the time, they were alone in James' lab at the mansion or at Stark Tower. Because of their constant state of seclusion, Elin had decided that her brother needed to get _out_. With more people, and stop hiding away and isolating himself from the rest of the school. Genius or not, he needed to have friends, too.

James had been quietly hiding since before the stupid Canada incident that Chance went through, and the more Elin thought about it, the more she was convinced that James had them all fooled. Which was how the four of them found themselves out at the best sushi bar in the city. It was one of their father's favorites, and the Howlett kids knew it was worth the trip. Their dates were game to go the _omakase_ route too, so even partway into their dinner, the two Howletts were cracking up at some of the faces that Vanessa was making as one of the other three explained what each piece was, though to her credit, she tried every one of them, even the more adventurous offerings.

Both couples were having a great night out, and Vanessa was cheerfully stealing kisses every chance she got - even in spite of the light teasing that Chance tried to lay down on them. But it was very quickly brought to a stop when James' phone went off with a text from Kurt.

_Billy's powers have ballooned out of his control. The collars short out when we try to use them. Do you think you could improve one to deal with Wiccan's powerset in particular? He's completely unresponsive._

"Well so much for dinner and a movie," James said as he read Kurt's message. _I'm sure we can figure something out._ James replied. "I gotta get back and work up a special collar."

"Something new?" Chance asked, leaning forward with a frown.

"Maybe," James admitted, drawing in a deep breath and then leaning so he could speak quietly with Chance. "Billy's having some problems and he's burning out the collars Hank has."

Chance's eyebrows shot up. "That's a crummy Valentine's present," he said.

James shrugged. "Not like we actually get a real break. And it was their anniversary so …"

"Yeah, I meant Billy's got to be upset that he got a power surge for his anniversary and Valentines," Chance said as he offered his hand to Elin to get up from their seats.

"James will fix it," Elin said as she stole a quick kiss from Chance, though for just a moment, Vanessa looked like she was staring off into space.

"'Nessa?" Chance prompted. "You okay?"

She wasn't holding her pearl like she usually did when she spaced out, and after just a beat or two, James gave her hand a squeeze, and she blinked out of it, looking almost breathless. She looked up at the other three of them and forced a smile. "What?"

"You okay?" Chance repeated, looking concerned since he'd never _seen_ Vanessa have a full blown vision like that.

"Oh," she said, letting out a little laugh that was not genuine at all. "I'm fine."

None of the others looked like they believed that, though Chance tipped his head toward James for a moment and then let out a breath. "I'm gonna go pull the car around."

James nodded and sat back down with Vanessa - and she quickly wrapped him up in a hug, though he and Elin were both focused on getting back to the mansion. "You're not okay. Your heart is pounding. We need to get back. Billy needs help."

Vanessa shook her head lightly and frowned. "Who did it?"

"Who did …." James looked over to Elin and then let his voice drop lower. "What did you see?"

She opened her mouth to say something, her hand quickly resting on the pearl as she tried to look into what was to come. She didn't want to alarm anyone if she could find a way to avoid it - but she couldn't see how to shift things. She didn't know how much time had passed when Elin cleared her throat to alert them that Chance was outside with the car. "She can tell you on the way home," Elin said low, and just like that, the three of them headed out with James quietly trying to get Vanessa to tell him what she knew.

The group hadn't been in the car long before Vanessa looked surprised and simply grabbed a hold of James and kissed the sense out of him without any explanation. Not that he was going to complain. Especially when he knew he was going in to do a marathon job for Hank. She was far more aggressive than usual, and more insistent. So who was he to argue?

"That bad?" Chance muttered under his breath to Elin, since he didn't know what Vanessa had seen and there was no reason to think she hadn't told Elin and James.

"No idea," Elin replied, though she was trying not to pay _too_ much attention to the back seat. "She blanked out again after you left."

Chance frowned to himself as he turned down the street when the light turned green, also refraining from further comment on the serious makeout in the backseat. He had just turned on his signal to turn left at the next light when a car peeled out of the driveway of the store just beside them, tires squealing, and engine roaring as it simply plowed into the side of the car the four of them were in before Chance could get them out of there. They were hit hard enough that the car rolled, and all four of the teenagers inside were knocked out on impact.

When James opened his eyes, he was upside down, still in the car. There was broken glass everywhere, and he could feel blood dripping off of his nose even before he turned his head to look around the car.

If he concentrated, he could hear sirens in the far distance, but they were a ways off and his head was swimming. The scents were much more worrisome anyhow. The air was thick with blood mostly, but he could smell gasoline and burning antifreeze, though which car it was from, he didn't know yet.

He turned toward Vanessa and froze for just a long moment before he lost his composure and panicked as he called her name, already sure that it was a waste of time by the way her neck was craned sideways. But he had to _try_. He reached for her, trying to rouse her, but her blank, vacant stare was a marker of what had happened. His pulse was rushing in his ears loudly enough that he simply couldn't hear anything else, and he scrambled to get himself out of the seat belt. He couldn't look at her and not freak out, so instead, he shifted his attention to his sister and brother-in-law for the time being. As long as they were okay …

"Elin," James called out, his voice shaking. "Chance - I need you guys to say something." The stupid seat belt didn't want to let loose no matter how hard he pulled. Frustrated and already half trembling, James gritted his teeth and popped a claw to cut through it. All of the windows were smashed, so getting out was just a matter of how much glass he wanted to drag himself through. But even though his side of the car was more crumpled, he was going out of his own window. He wasn't going to go past Vanessa. Even if it was a clearer pathway. Nope. Not gonna happen. Not if he wanted to keep from totally freaking out.

James pulled himself out, tearing open a gash along his side from a jagged bit of metal, and went forward to check on Elin. When he saw she was breathing at least, he walked around the car, resting one hand on the vehicle until he was next to Chance. His ears were still rushing when he got down on the ground by Chance. "Hey, come on, big brother, you gotta answer me." He looked in a little closer, again having to turn his head from looking toward Vanessa, when he saw where the blood was coming from on Chance and swore under his breath before he popped a claw to start cutting through the belt.

He did what he could to cushion the short fall and to keep the gearshift from moving any further into Chance's torso, pulling him halfway out of the car and trying to force himself calmer so he could _hear_ anything.

But after a short moment, he stared at him when he realized that, though Chance had a pulse, he wasn't breathing. He started to swear and looked at where the gearshift was lodged - from the angle, it was likely right into his diaphragm, if he was lucky. If it was deeper …

Swearing to himself more, James simply started on the respiration part of CPR, too wrapped up in keeping him going to even think further than that. This whole affair was a mess. Vanessa was dead. Chance was dying … Elin … would probably be okay, admittedly, but that didn't make this mess any less horrible.

Between breaths, James called for Elin, but he couldn't leave Chance for long enough to try and wake her up, and he was getting more frantic the longer it took. He didn't know if it was even going to do Chance any good.

It was exhausting work, breathing for someone else. No one told him it was that wearing. He was so focused on keeping Chance breathing that it didn't register when someone else had arrived on the scene until that someone put a hand on his shoulder and simply yanked him away from Chance. "You are wasting your time, my boy," said a familiar voice as a few more strong hands grabbed either of James' arms as well to drag him back from the wrecked car.

James was out of breath from his work, but he still tried to pull away from the hands. "No, I can't stop now," James said as he lost his grip on his composure. He couldn't be helpless and let Chance _die_. Not when he already had lost Vanessa. He tried to call out again when his breath caught in his throat and he couldn't hold back the tears. He didn't have the voice to shout for Elin again while he was trying to break free from the men holding him.

The Marauders on either side of him didn't pay him any heed as they simply followed their orders to drag James off, and he was panicking solidly until he saw that Elin was finally starting to wake up, obviously still disoriented from the crash - but conscious at last.

"Elin-" James called out as best he could. "Help Chance!"

For a moment, Sinister looked irritated when she put a hand on James' shoulder, though the irritation didn't last long as she simply teleported off with him, reappearing in a recognizable sort of basement lab setup a moment later as the Marauders took him in a tighter grip so that he couldn't move around as much. And by that time, Sinister was smirking when she saw that James wasn't even fighting against the Marauders anymore, too lost in his loss to even argue. Which made things that much easier for her as she rested a hand on his other shoulder with a smile.

"I did offer you an escape," she said softly. "Remember that."

With that, she stepped back, though the smirk had died into a frown as someone else - much bigger than the Marauders even - stepped forward, seemingly to examine James, with one hand on either side of his head, even though James' gaze was decidedly down, not meeting anyone's eyes. The Marauders stepped back, obviously unconcerned that James would try to escape at this point. Even when James' hands came up to half-heartedly try to dislodge the hands on either side of his head.

"The Marauders winnow out the weak that the strong may rule and do my will. You are not yet strong enough to face all that I will expect you to shoulder, but you have the same ferocity your father once held. Do not disappoint me as he did." He tipped James' head back until the young man had no choice but to meet his gaze, and when he did, James drew in a sharp breath and felt a rush that seemed to sweep back all of the anguish that was overwhelming him for a moment.

"Why do you think they've tucked you away in a laboratory for so many years already?" Apocalypse said, and even in spite of the rushing sensation in his head, James tried to shake his head 'no' as the man continued on. "They fear what they don't yet understand. They know that your mind is a more powerful weapon than others that have come before you. So they encourage you to get lost in your own head, dependent on them for protection - so that they can keep their pathetic dream alive." He leaned closer and let his voice drop to a whisper as the Marauders stepped back further, leaving the helpless boy to their master's whims. "You don't _belong_ with the X-Men. Or the Avengers. They held you back and kept you from discovering your worth - all while locking you away and stifling your talents. Using your mind to benefit themselves while you were forgotten, ignored, and abandoned."

Apocalypse paused, letting his words sink in before he began to truly concentrate on James, and all that pain and misery that Apocalypse had momentarily pushed aside came rushing back with a much stronger intensity until James could hardly breathe, let alone begin to fight it. "You've been through terrible pain tonight, and there _will be_ much more before I am through shaping you into what you are destined to be. Focus on the pain. The destruction … anger, power, and death. Use it, and I will forge you into the likes of which you could never imagine."

James would have screamed if he could have drawn a breath. Apocalypse's words were almost a blur as the searing pain of all that he'd lost - and whatever else it was that was being done to him overtook his senses to the point that all he could sense in the world around him was pain.

"No longer a shadow of your father … join me, and you will rise up stronger … as Death."

* * *

Elin had barely heard what James had said before Sinister took him and disappeared, and as soon as he was gone, she panicked. She turned her head and swore outright when she saw that Chance was outside of the car, and once she got out of her seatbelt, she swore that much more when she saw that Vanessa was dead. She screamed when she saw that her leg was broken, but she didn't have the time to worry about it much when she knew Chance was in trouble. She worked her way over to where James had pulled him out and started swearing all over again - though at least she had the presence of mind to hit her panic button even before she gave Chance another breath.

It was only a moment later that there was the telltale _bamf_ of Kurt's arrival, as well as the sound of a series of increasingly creative German swear words the more he saw of the situation.

Kurt didn't bother trying to ask Elin what had happened when her breath was clearly better spent elsewhere and instead teleported both Elin and Chance right to the medical wing, calling for Henry before disappearing again to get Vanessa - and look for James.

He reappeared in a poof of sulfur and quickly maneuvered his way into the car, gently calling to Vanessa, though when she didn't respond, and he saw her wide, unseeing eyes and the horrible discoloring at her neck, all of the blood left his face, and he sat back, his eyes wide. " _Mein Gott_ ," he whispered softly, stunned. He couldn't tear his gaze from her, horrified at the loss of such a bright light in their lives, and as the bamfs appeared around him, echoing his heartbreak, Kurt took a moment to _try_ and see if there was any chance at all that she could be _saved_.

The bamfs had scattered to look for any sign of James as Kurt gently released Vanessa from the seat belt, torn between anger and despair on James' behalf. When the bamfs returned with no sign of James anywhere, Kurt finally took a deep breath and teleported back to Westchester - though not to the same room he had taken Elin and Chance.

He was sure, after all, that Elin didn't need to see Vanessa's lifeless body when she was trying to keep Chance from the same fate.

By the time he returned to the medical wing, he had already alerted Scott to what had happened, and he had been sure to say Last Rites for Vanessa before he went back to the other two victims of the car crash. His eyes were wide as he took in the rush of activity that was Hank, Daisy, and even Gerry working in tandem to save Chance.

With Chance's life in the doctors' hands, then, Elin had sat down close by, and Kurt teleported over to her in an instant to gently wrap his arms around her shoulder. "Can you tell me what happened, _schatzi_?"

"It was an ambush," she said breathlessly. "Sinister has James."

"He…" Kurt took a moment to simply hug Elin tighter. "We _will_ get him back," he swore. "And he _will_ pay for this."

"James … knew about Chance and Vanessa," she said. "He's the one that told me to go to Chance."

Kurt let his shoulders drop when he heard it and gently kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Elin," he said. He kissed her forehead one more time and wiped a smudge of blood away from her cheek. "As soon as we know where he has gone, I will run Sinister through myself, regardless of who he is inhabiting. Enough is enough."

Elin numbly leaned her head against Kurt's shoulder, though to both of their surprise, it wasn't Scott or any of the X-Men who got down there first. Instead, it was Charlie, panting and wide-eyed as she took in the scene in front of her - from the doctors working to keep Chance breathing to Elin and Kurt seated nearby.

She went right to Elin and wrapped her arms around her, her lip already quivering from the emotions that she could feel. "I heard you," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm fine," Elin said flatly.

"You're in shock; I can hear it. Everything goes flat," Charlie insisted, then looked up at Kurt. "What happened?"

"Sinister," Kurt said simply.

Charlie's eyes widened, and she looked around the room. "What about James and Vanessa? I - I can find them," she said.

"Vanessa's dead," Elin said. "And Sinister took James."

Charlie simply stared at Elin in obvious surprise for a long moment, her hand over her mouth before she simply turned and ran out of the lab - though whether that was to find James or to find privacy to cry, it was a tossup. She had _really_ liked Vanessa, and she'd been looking forward to seeing one of her dearest friends settling down with someone he obviously loved.

She ended up running to the music room, where she curled up in a tight ball to simply cry for a long while, but the more she cried, the angrier she got as she thought about it. Sinister had absolutely _no right_ to interfere with their lives like this. No right to kill her friend, to kidnap James, to try to murder Chance…

The more she thought about it, the tighter she held onto the pendant around her neck until there were lines in her palms where she had been holding it.

"I _will_ find him," she whispered to herself before she started to fiddle with the settings on Amy. She and James hadn't figured out how to get the device to look for specific people yet, but the ferals were the easiest for her to find. Their songs were the loudest and most obviously complicated.

She started with a search of the immediate area, of course, but after a while, she simply started to expand her search, going on a near-grid search, determined to find her friend.


	3. You Have To Go Back

Just a second ago, Chance could have sworn that he had been driving. He'd seen the car coming at the last second and tried to accelerate and then -

Now, he was more or less floating. Not quite like being in water, but sort of similar.

"Oh, sweetheart, you don't belong here," an unfamiliar voice said - with an almost echoing quality.

Chance frowned at the voice and finally seemed to get a grip on himself enough to look toward where it had come from - and he was surprised to see "Rachel?"

She smiled widely and gently shook her head. "So very close," she said.

Chance frowned for a moment longer before he figured it out and then blinked at her in obvious shock. "Wait…"

"You look so much like your father," Jean said, still lightly shaking her head.

"Yeah… I get that a lot," he said, still staring at her. "I - I'm Chance."

She smiled wider at that. "I know," she said before she toned down the grin. "I'm Jean."

"I know," Chance couldn't help but say.

"You need to go back," Jean said, sounding almost firm with him.

"I - okay," Chance said, holding up his hands in a time-out signal. "What?"

"You don't want to leave Elin like this," she said.

He couldn't help but swear under his breath and shook his head. "So… so I'm dead," he said, his eyes wide. "This isn't an interdimensional bird thing?"

"As close to it as you can get," Jean told him. "And no, this is not a Phoenix thing."

Chance frowned as he looked down at himself and brought his hand up to his face - no scar - and then looked back up at Jean. "How do I go back?" he asked her. "I promised Elin I wouldn't - I _swore_ I wouldn't leave her if I could help it."

"I'm sure if you concentrate, you'll find your way back easily enough," another, more familiar voice said. "It's always a matter of mind over all else." Charles smiled warmly at him. "You've done well so far. Keep your momentum."

Chance stared at Charles for a moment before he couldn't help but rush over to hug him. "It's - it's really nice to meet you. The real you, I mean," he said. "Even if the circumstances are less than ideal."

"Someone's been timeline jumping," Jean said quietly.

"Dimension hopping, actually," Chance said, smiling over at her.

"Same thing," she said with an easy shrug. "More or less."

Chance smirked at that and stepped back from Charles, though whatever he was going to say next was lost when he saw another familiar figure - this one someone who clearly didn't belong there. "Vanessa?" he said quietly, his gaze locked onto her.

The little blonde smiled at him sadly. "You have to go."

"You have to come with me," he said.

She shook her head lightly, and Jean laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's too late for her. It was quick."

"No…" Chance stared at Vanessa and shook his head. " _No_. You have to come back with me. You have to get married to James and be my sister-in-law."

"Chance, you have to go back or _you won't be able to_. I'm where I'm supposed to be," Vanessa said quietly. "I saw it happen before we got in the car. I just didn't see how it happened and I couldn't see how to avoid it."

Chance stared at her for a moment longer before he simply rushed over and hugged her. "I'm sorry, 'Nessa," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see the car."

"It wasn't your fault," she promised. "It was an attack. So go back, and _fight._ "

"Alright," Chance said, letting his shoulders drop, though he tightened the hug for one more brief moment and then stepped back, looking between the gathered people. "What do I do now?" he asked quietly.

"Focus on where you should be," Charles said as Jean offered him her hand.

Chance nodded slowly, and as soon as he took Jean's hand, the warm, light feeling that had moved through him when he first got there was replaced by a hot, burning sensation where Jean touched him. He almost pulled back at the touch, but he just held her hand tighter and closed his eyes tightly, concentrating on Elin - since that was where he should be.

The light feeling lingered for a moment longer until, all at once, it was replaced by a far more familiar sort of floating feeling - this one more drug-induced than anything else. He could feel himself starting to slip back, which was what prompted him to mutter a very soft, "Elin," trying to get his focus back.

Elin closed her eyes tightly and let out a breath before she worked her way over to the head of his bed and kissed his forehead.

He cracked an eye open and would have reached over to hold her hand with the one he had been using to hold Jean's, but apparently, that one was broken. "Huh." He blinked a few times and then leaned back. "Hi," he said, his voice hoarse from the intubation and the measures Hank had taken to keep him breathing until Tyler could get there. So it really must have been something awful if he still had a broken hand - Ty had just focused on the worst of it and worn himself out.

No wonder he'd been hanging out with his stepmom and grandfather for a while.

"Yes, you are," Elin had to tease, but she was sure to give him a more appropriate kiss as well.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," she said, almost rolling her eyes. "Of course I am."

"That bad?"

Elin let out her breath and glanced over at Scott and Annie. "Yeah, it's that bad."

He nodded slowly. "Who was it?" he asked, trying to sit up a bit, though as soon as he started that, Annie rushed over to put a hand on his shoulder and make him stay down.

"Our favorite villain," Elin said quietly. "Or … we're her favorite target."

Chance frowned at that, still struggling to think clearly when he was on a lot of medication. "Vanessa," he said quietly.

"Just try to rest, would you?" Elin said.

Chance shook his head, still trying to think while it was still fresh. "She said it was an attack," he said.

Elin held his gaze and nodded slowly. "It was," she said softly. "But Vanessa is dead."

Chance watched her for a minute before he couldn't hold her gaze anymore and dropped it. "I… I know," he said, though it was obvious he was getting tired again. He didn't really want to drift back to sleep, though, since he'd promised to stay with Elin.

Elin looked over at Hank, and when he nodded, she climbed into the bed with him on his good side. "Please rest," she said, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging him around the middle. "You can deal with everything else when we know more."

He paused and then leaned over just enough to kiss her cheek. "I don't want to leave you."

"You'd have to fight me to get past me," Elin said. "And sweetheart - you would lose. So bad."

He couldn't help but smile at that as he rested his head on hers. "I would," he agreed. He started to drift off, the drugs still heavy in his system as he relaxed.

"Tyler healed you up," Elin said before she kissed him again. "The worst stuff anyhow. Tomorrow, when you wake up, your mom will stuff you like a turkey to make up for the healing, and we'll figure it all out. Everyone is looking for James right now."

"Okay," he said quietly, though Elin was the only one who heard the very quiet "Jean'll send me back anyway" that followed it before he was asleep.

"She better," Elin whispered to him and snuggled in.

* * *

Tyler was pretty well drained after the healing that he had just put Chance through, and he had every intention of finding a spot to sit down, eat, and sleep it off, but he paused on his way out the door when he heard Annie telling Hank that she was going to duck outside and get a plate to bring down to Teddy - and asking if Billy was in a state to eat anything.

Tyler's eyebrows shot up, and he paused on his way out the door to snag Hank by the shoulder. "What's up with Billy?" he asked.

Hank let out a sigh. "We're not entirely sure," he admitted. "It seems his mutation has gone completely haywire."

"Can I see?"

Hank nodded and, with an arm around Tyler - since he was a bit worried about how drained his stepson was - redirected him to the room where Billy was still sedated and Teddy was still sitting with him, not quite ready to leave the room.

Tyler couldn't help but frown at the scene as he took it in before he sat down beside Teddy and very quietly asked for the overview of what had happened. Teddy did his best to explain it, and Tyler was chewing on his bottom lip as he considered it for a long time.

"I might be able to help," he said at last.

Teddy looked up with such a raw look of hope that Tyler almost immediately regretted it. "You can?"

"Not permanently," he said quickly. "But … I can turn off people's powers. And since it's a problem with his mutation, there shouldn't be any reason why I can't do that for him." He held up his hands. "I can't do it for very long. It's not like I've had a lot of chances to practice it, and it takes a lot more concentration and energy than the healing does." He paused and took a deep breath. "But give me some time to recover and get my energy back, and I can give him a little time with the powers off, at least. So he can talk to us."

Teddy blinked at him for a moment before, all of a sudden and without any further hesitation, he simply rushed over to Tyler and threw his arms around him in a hug. "That's the best news I've heard all day," he said.

"Pretty crummy Valentine's Day, huh?" Tyler asked as he returned the hug.

Teddy let out a little laugh. "Yeah," he said. "You could say that."

"Hey, I'm headed upstairs to get some food," Tyler said. "And you look like you could use some too. Want me to bring down the stress baking?" he teased.

Teddy smirked the slightest bit. "Yeah, that would be great."

Tyler got to his feet and gave Teddy's arm another squeeze. "We'll figure out what's going on. Just give me a chance to get my feet underneath me, and I'll have Dad wake him up when we're ready."

* * *

It was late into the night when Sadie slipped out of the Wagners' suite and started to stalk through the halls, listening intently for anyone that was out of bed, since her parents had disappeared after finding out that James was missing. They couldn't sit behind and wait when James was stuck with Sinister.

She didn't blame them, of course. They had every reason to be worried, especially since they were sure that he knew Vanessa was dead. If it wasn't so wildly obvious what had happened, they might have thought he'd just left after losing her … but that was most definitely not the case.

She'd gotten herself a drink of water in the kitchen when she heard a faint sound down the hall and she perked her ears up as she silently followed it to the music room. She paused outside the door, simply listening for a moment before stepping inside and rushing over to Charlie. "What are you trying to do to yourself?" she said as she took Charlie's hands into hers.

"I can find him, I know I can," Charlie insisted, even though it was obvious that Amy had been taking its toll on her, if the fact that her eyes were puffy and she wasn't even crying tears anymore was any indication.

"What are you talking about?" Sadie asked, taking the device off of Charlie and then simply wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"I can find him," Charlie said. "I just have to hone in on his song… I haven't found it yet, but I _will_. I can find him."

Sadie closed her eyes and let out a breath. "You don't know that, Charlie."

Charlie clutched onto Sadie for a long moment, burying her face in Sadie's shoulder. "I can't hear him, Sadie," she whispered. "I've looked all over North America, and his song isn't _there_."

"He's there," Sadie replied.

"I'm going to keep looking," Charlie said.

"No you're _not_ ," Sadie said, shaking her head. "You're going to rest. And you're going to take a break. Your sister is coming to help on Cerebro. And you aren't going to do anyone any good if you're a mess."

Charlie shook her head. "I can't fight anyone, but I can _find_ them," she insisted.

"Yes, but you can't find him until you _rest_ ," Sadie said. "And I fully expect you to make your sister look like a doorstop when you find him with that stupid necklace."

Charlie let out a little sob and then held onto Sadie tighter. "I'm so sorry, Sadie," she said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Sadie said firmly. "He's out there. He's just gotten his heart broken, but he's out there."

"That's what's so frustrating," Charlie said. "He should be easy to find. Loud, intense emotions like that should be _screaming_ for me to find him, and I _can't_."

Sadie let Charlie pull back to arm's length, and she tipped her head to meet her gaze. "That's more like Dad. Mom said she shuts _off._ Maybe you need to look for the numb spot."

Charlie nodded at that, grasping on to the fresh perspective. "Maybe," she agreed. "But his general song should still be the same… even if it's shifted tone."

"Even if he's gone through losing his first love right in front of him and Sinister trauma?" Sadie said.

Charlie let her gaze fall. "I … I have to believe he's still James at his core," she said. "If he's changed too much, I'll never find him. Not ever."

"Mom will, though," Sadie said with a little smirk. "And Dad. No way is he gonna slip them forever."

"Yes, but everyone is so upset in the meantime," Charlie whispered. "Your whole family… and mine… and…" She picked her head up. "Oh, Chance!"

"Yeah, they got him back from the brink," Sadie said. "If you insist on not sleeping, you should go see him with your own eyes. Tyler said he'd heal the broken bones in the morning. Once he recharged."

"It was that bad?" Charlie asked, her eyes wide.

"You'd have to ask your parents or Elin. I only got the short version from Tyler."

Charlie nodded and then reached over to pull Sadie into a hug. "I'm going to find him, I promise," she said.

"I know," Sadie replied. "We have to."


	4. Famine And Pestilence

When word reached the other schools about what had happened in Westchester, most of the other X-Men had offered help in some way, and all of them were keeping an eye out for any sign of James. Remy had just gotten back in from calling up his contacts in the underground - none of whom had seen any sign of the young feral. He ruffled Amadi's hair as he passed her on the couch and dropped into the seat next to her. She had been home for the weekend, but with everything going on in Westchester, she didn't want to go back out when the jets all needed to be used for the search. Besides, she didn't want to be in the way.

"Did you find anything?" Amadi asked, though the look on Remy's face was answer enough.

"Nothin' yet, lil' Stormy," he said tiredly. "Don't mean we gon' stop lookin'."

Amadi nodded and gave him a quick hug around his middle. "I know it can't be easy for you," she said quietly. "When it's Jana."

Remy let out a breath and then gruffly ruffled her hair. "Ain't no body ever said dis life be fair," Remy pointed out, leaning his head back on the couch as Amadi rearranged herself so that she was curled up with him properly and it wasn't long before Remy had nodded off.

The two of them were comfortable, relaxed even - seeing as they were the only ones outside of the students _in_ the school at the time with the rest of the staff out and searching. Remy shifted in his sleep slightly when he felt the cushion next to him move, but it was the metallic 'click' that had his eyes popping open. Immediately after the click, Amadi started to struggle as someone pulled her away from Remy and the couch.

In an instant, Remy was on his feet, whipping out his cards as they glowed between his fingers, though he stopped short from throwing them when he saw that it was _James_ who had hold of Amadi's arms. He was draped in black, and his eyes held a yellow glow. "Whatchu thinkin'?" Remy asked with a frown, taking a careful step forward as he made his way closer to a stony and scowling James. When James said nothing and instead only narrowed his eyes with a sneer, Remy kept his gaze and very slowly advanced. "If she got you in one o' her siren songs, you know you don' gotta listen. You jus' like you parents. _Fight it_."

James didn't shift his gaze from Remy as the Cajun gradually approached until at the very last moment, when a familiar _snikt_ rang out in the air, and Remy gasped as three claws went through his chest.

"You're just a distraction," James said in a low growl, his lip curled up and his meter of speaking _nothing_ like anything James had ever done. He held steady as Remy stammered, then he retracted his claws and took a better grip on Amadi, who was staring at Remy in horror as he sank to the ground, bleeding profusely.

"Let me go!" she managed to bite out around her pure shock, twisting around to try and dislodge James' grip, though collared and without nearly as much training as James had gotten his whole life, there really wasn't any way she could get out of it. " _Remy_!"

James, for his part, ignored her arguments and struggles completely, manhandling her roughly to drag her away. When she got to be too much of a hassle, he simply picked her up and slung her over his shoulder as he strode out of the school.

Amadi fought him every step of the way, twisting and turning and doing her best to make herself hard to hang onto, but James wasn't _James_. He wasn't paying her any heed until she managed to get in a shot and cracked him hard in the back of his head with her elbow. At that, he threw her down to the ground hard and rushed her. She didn't _know_ he'd brought ropes with him to restrain her, and she fought from letting him get her hands again even as he overpowered her and held her down. He was growling low as she desperately tried to scurry free, and he got more rough as they wrestled in the grass. But that wasn't really in her favor either and even the kick she hit him with between his legs only had him falling over her and pinning her down.

She couldn't _breathe_ from the weight of him and she couldn't get _away_ as he wrapped his arm around her and refused to let go. When he glared down at her, she found herself honestly scared of what might happen next as she scrambled to _run_. And he _let her_ turn and almost get her feet under her before he yanked her legs out from under her, dropping her face down in the grass. He was over her before she could do more than scream, and the moment he got her hands, he pushed her face down into the dirt harder while he tied her hands behind her back. She was restrained — _too tightly._ She'd _never_ been handled like that and she couldn't see anything of her friend in the young man that was _hurting her_.

With a low grumble, James pulled her to her feet again, even as she pulled against him trying to stay right where she was. He didn't give her the chance to fight as he once again slung her over his shoulder. Amadi could see, through panicked tears, that there was a strange sort of light that seemed to open up a door in thin air, and a moment later, they were not only beyond the gates of the school but someplace else entirely, surrounded by trees, with a lake nearby.

James kept his focus forward, and in short order, he walked past the pairs of tall, broad Marauders without even glancing their way. A fact that had Amadi trying to remember if she had a panic button on her as she started to struggle again. She cursed to herself when she couldn't reach her pockets and her heart was racing as she realized how much trouble she was in. When they finally reached their destination, he unceremoniously dropped her and cut the ropes that restrained her before he stepped back, arms crossed and emotionless.

Amadi glared his way for a moment, brushing her white hair out of her face with one hand as she searched for a panic button. When she realized she didn't have one, she turned on the spot, searching the area around them before she looked up to see the big, stone-faced man in front of her. Her eyes widened, but she still managed a glare worthy of her mother - totally unamused and furious with him. "You're going to pay for this," she swore, though when Apocalypse met her gaze, she felt almost like she was wilting, as if all of her blood had turned to needles.

"There is no room in my world for weakness," Apocalypse said, and the words seemed to actually move through her. "Only the strong must survive. Your lineage is that of strength, little one. Your mother was once worshipped by inferior beings who knew power when they saw it and longed to control it." He held her gaze as she seemed to be completely frozen, watching him wide-eyed even as he reached out and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek where there was still mud smeared there from her fight with James. But as soon as she realized how close he was and tried to step back, he took a hold of her head with both of his massive hands. Amadi reached up to try and push him away, terrified to her bones with the rushing sensation that was driving out all sound like the wind rushing past her at hurricane forces. All sound but Apocalypse's voice that echoed in the wind in her ears as if if had been spoken from the clouds themselves, forcing her to focus on it. Her breath caught in her chest. "You will find your rightful place — a goddess in the eyes of those beneath you. I will make you a force beyond your comprehension. You will be known by all as Pestilence."

* * *

Back in LA, Remy had managed to hit his comm as James left with Amadi. "Stormy," he said. "We gotta problem."

It hadn't taken Storm long at all to get back to the school, though it was long enough that James was long gone, and Remy was bleeding out on the living room floor. In an instant, she rushed over to where he was to help staunch the worst bleeders and called for Kurt. "Send one of the bamfs with Tyler. Now," she said, her eyes already alight with the anger at seeing what had happened.

"Consider it done," Kurt replied, though when the bamf appeared shortly after with Tyler, so did Kurt.

Tyler let out a low whistle when he saw what had happened and didn't hesitate to get to work, shaking his head to himself. It was good timing for Remy, honestly, because Tyler had just refueled to help Chance and Billy — but clearly, Remy's was the most pressing injury.

Storm sat with Remy until the healing was finished and Tyler sat back, shaking his head and worn out again. "Whoever stabbed him knew what they were doing," he said. "That would have been fatal." He glanced up at Kurt and then simply leaned back, resting his head on the couch cushion and not bothering to actually get on the couch for how tired he was. "That was close."

"Ole boy gon' need an energy bar de way this here ting is goin' down," Remy said from the floor.

Storm smiled down at him, not bothering to hide her relief. "What happened?"

Remy opened up his trenchcoat further to show the three pronged marks - neat, clean cuts all in a row. "James got hisself in a big ol' mess."

Kurt's eyes widened as he leaned over, his tail switching behind him. "That doesn't make any sense," he muttered. "Sinister wouldn't send him to murder you."

"He _took_ Amadi wit' him," Remy said. "And I don' tink it was _Sinister_."

"He _what_?" Storm said, her eyes lighting up again as the hair on everyone's arms and necks stood up from the charge in the air.

"He ain't our boy no more," Remy said.

Storm helped Remy to his feet long enough to get him to the couch, though it was obvious she was a step away from murderous. "What _happened_?"

"He said I was jes' a distraction," Remy said. "Bout half a second after he stab me." Remy let out all of his breath. "Look awful familiar and he din' sound like hisself none either."

"So if it's not Sinister, what are you thinking?" Tyler asked, looking between the three older X-Men with a frown.

"Ol Remy t'inkin' his boss come back."

Storm and Kurt glanced at each other openly, though Tyler frowned deeper. "I don't… sorry, Sinister has a _boss_?" he said, holding his hands up. "Since _when_?"

"James wasn't James," Remy said, trying to get it through to Tyler. "And _monsieur_ Nathaniel _Essex_ been answerin' to de same monster for a long time."

"Yeah, I - I'm still not following you, sorry," Tyler said, though by that time, Storm had already gotten on the phone to call Scott.

Kurt absently rested a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "It's not good."

"Yeah, no kidding," Tyler said. "I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you guys pull a He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Kurt couldn't even muster a false laugh. "If Remy is correct, then we're dealing with Apocalypse."

"Oh." All of the humor left Tyler's face as he stared between them while Storm insisted to Scott that he had to scramble the jets. _Now_. "O...kay, yeah, we're going to need to stock up because I suddenly have a feeling I'm gonna be very busy."

"Good instincts," Kurt said, nodding his head.

* * *

Leslie Ann had to admit that she had been dreading this coming up ever since she had rejoined the X-Men. She had been a little bit insulated when Jana had initially been possessed by Sinister, being an Avenger at the time, but that didn't mean it hadn't hit her hard hearing that her best friend in the whole world had been taken over.

She couldn't help but wonder sometimes if she'd done enough. If Jana would have been safe if only Leslie Ann had stuck around, if she could have helped to stop Sinister before he got his hooks too deep into her best friend.

She had done what she could from her position in the Avengers to keep an eye out for Jana - or Sinister or whoever she was now. And when Chloe was taken, Leslie Ann had been _looking_ for Sinister but secretly hoping not to find her. But the truth of the matter was that, even now, as she was helping the rest of the team look for James, Leslie Ann once again hoped that she would _not_ run into her former best friend. She hadn't seen Jana since Sinister took her over. She didn't know how she would handle it.

It was hard to figure out how to react to Sinister, because, after all, the guy had used her best friend's body to try to kill Leslie Ann's cousin multiple times - and according to Tyler, she had come closer than ever this time. And Sinister kept kidnapping her other cousins, tormenting her uncle, torturing her friends…

But Billy had said that Jana was still in there. He'd _seen_ Jana last time he'd dealt with Sinister.

Maybe that was what had happened to him. Maybe it was Sinister who had turned him totally inside out to get revenge for breaking his hold on Jana even temporarily. Leslie Ann wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. After all, Sinister was an expert in mutations, wasn't he?

Leslie Ann bit her lip and then shook her head. She really didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to find James and - and if she had to fight Jana, she would deal with that when it came up.

For the moment, Leslie Ann was more focused on searching - with Bobby, who needed something to do to _help_ while Rachel was on Cerebro - for any sign of their missing teammate. They'd decided to chase down a report Kate had found of a rumored Marauder sighting - nothing super serious and nothing concrete, but it was still something, and that was what mattered.

Now, Marauders, Leslie Ann could handle. She'd gotten _seriously_ good at her powers since she'd become an Avenger, and she was pretty sure she'd hit the secondary mutation after an uptick in her powers left her feeling like she could even do something close to tracking, feeling the plants around her bend when someone stood on the grass - sort of like following footprints, but more specific to the plantlife around her.

And Bobby, for his part, seemed to think it was positively amazing, grinning at her when she crouched down and put her hand to the ground. "Whatcha got, Amazon?"

"Definitely a bunch of big guys further out, but I don't think there's anyone smaller than a Marauder." She paused. "It's hard to tell - there's some concrete … a parking lot. I can't tell what's there; not enough plant life."

Bobby nodded and iced up. "Well, let's go knock and see if our favorite super genius is loitering in the parking lot," he suggested with a smile.

Leslie Ann couldn't help but smile at him for that one, straightening up and squaring her shoulders as she walked with him through the trees in the Appalachians. Even though it was February, it was already starting to get warm in this area of the world - an early thaw - and she could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her neck.

It didn't take them long at all to find the Marauders, and Leslie Ann couldn't help smiling to herself as she and Bobby dove into the fight. She wasn't little anymore, but Iceman had always been her favorite, and even though his ice made it harder on her plants, she did like teaming up with him.

She threw out her arms, directing trees and grass and bushes forward so that the Marauders that weren't encased in ice from Bobby's initial assault quickly found themselves fighting roots and vines as Leslie Ann worked to get them all strung up by their arms, legs, middles, whatever she could get a hold of - all without moving from where she was standing. It was every bit as impressive as when she'd fought the Marauders alongside Chloe and Amadi, maybe even more so, since she had learned from that fight how best to fight these guys.

There was a sort of _pop_ behind her, and before Leslie Ann could turn around, she heard a familiar voice say, "You've really gotten so much better at that, haven't you?"

For an instant, Leslie Ann simply froze - it was the first time she'd heard Jana in ages, and it wasn't the strange layered tone that the other X-Men had described, either. That, more than anything else, had her pausing before she finally turned to face her, feeling her mouth go totally dry as she took in the changes to her best friend: the glowing red eyes, the diamond in the center of her forehead, the pale skin, the black leather ensemble… all of it.

"Jana?" Leslie Ann couldn't help it; she hadn't seen her best friend in _years_.

But despite the trick of her voice, this person clearly was _not_ Jana; that much was obvious by the cruel twist to her mouth when she heard Leslie Ann say that name. With another pop, Jana disappeared - and then reappeared just behind Leslie Ann, grabbing her by the arm.

In the split second before they teleported away together, Leslie Ann did, at least, manage to get her wits about her enough to _try_ to attack Jana, and Bobby turned in time to see several sharp barbs of branches digging into the ground where Jana had just been.

But it had been a fraction of a second too late, and instead of pinning Ja- _Sinister_ to the ground, Leslie Ann blinked and found herself surrounded by stone and metal, a sort of lab setup that was familiar to the X-Men but that Leslie Ann had never encountered before.

She couldn't help but panic when she saw it, whirling around to face Sinister - and this time, she was faster than the teleport, managing to hit the woman with a solid right hook that set her back a step before a pair of Marauders rushed in to grab Leslie Ann by the arms, hauling her away from Sinister as she grabbed her jaw and worked it out as it healed from the hit.

"I see being on the Avengers hasn't tempered you too much, then," Sinister said when the Marauders had a solid grip on Leslie Ann, though she was pulling against them hard and reaching out desperately to even the smallest bit of plants she could find. Something wood. Anything at all would work.

"Stop playing games," Leslie Ann snapped. "Where's James?"

Sinister smirked at that. "Ah, always the same with you self proclaimed _heroes_. Always in a rush to fall on your own sword." The smirk stretched into a smile. "But since you asked so nicely, let me show you," she said, leading the Marauders down a stone hallway that fed into a taller room - away from the lab.

Leslie Ann stopped fighting, staring in surprise when she saw that not only was James there - standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face - but so was Amadi, her eyes bright white and still somehow sunken-looking at the same time as she watched Leslie Ann being dragged in. Neither James nor Amadi made any comment whatsoever to tell the Marauders to let her go - standing silently on either side of a _huge_ , granite-like man who seemed to be studying her.

When Leslie Ann locked gazes with the man, something inside her shifted. It was like the big hole that had opened up in her heart when Neil had been killed was just as fresh as the day it had happened, only a hundred times worse. That empty, sort of abandoned feeling, the same one she'd felt when she heard Jana was gone, too - it kept on growing until it was physical, like she hadn't eaten in days.

She couldn't tear her gaze away from the large man as he put a hand on her shoulder, still with his gaze locked with hers. "You have been diligent in learning to grow great power already, and the powerful will be rewarded in my kingdom," he said. He paused to consider her further as she simply stared at him, unable to look away. "You seek _belonging._ I will give you both belonging and purpose within my Horsemen. You will be more powerful than you ever thought possible, and the world will forever know you as Famine."


	5. Messages From The Other Side

That morning, as promised, Tyler had come down to the med lab to finish fixing Chance up - after a serious recharge and some sleep for both of them. Thankfully, this healing didn't take nearly as much time or effort; broken bones were easy for Tyler to mend at that point. It was the reconstructive and delicate work of, well, big holes in important organs and massive internal bleeding that had been hard before.

"Tyler, you're just ... " Elin was sure to get up and give him a bear hug as soon as he'd finished with Chance. "Thank you."

He couldn't help but smile at her and pull her into an even more solid hug. "Hey, no reason to keep you two from snuggling," he said. "I mean, it's a late Valentine's present, but… hey. Better late than never."

"Yours got screwed up too, though," Elin said as she stepped back, her hands in her back pockets. "Is Tammy going to be cranky?"

Tyler gave her a sheepish smile. "A little bit," he said. He leaned forward and dropped his voice. "We were going to show off some ultrasound images together - finally saw the twins, and, you know, we're past the first trimester when the most things go wrong…"

Elin froze and stared at him for a moment, open-mouthed. "I … should probably get the hell away from your _insane amount of glitter_ ," she said with a laugh before she grinned his way. "But…. _Congrats!_ I know you guys wanted more."

Tyler nodded and then reached over to pull her into another hug. "We'll just say you're saving up the glitter for later," he teased.

"You're terrible," she said, pushing back on him. "I don't want your kitty glitter."

"I am terrible," he agreed seriously. "But as I understand it, can't blame _me_ if it happens," he added, breaking into an even broader grin before he simply ducked out to go meet up with Teddy before she could hit him.

"Horrible, awful, dirty, rotten _ex-Creed_ ," Elin muttered as she turned toward Chance and let out a sigh. "I'll bet your mom is waiting to stuff you. As discussed."

Chance grinned at her and pulled her over to kiss her, entirely wrapped up for a good, long moment. "Probably," he agreed, sitting up a bit and stretching out his formerly broken hand experimentally before he used it to tuck Elin's hair behind her ear and then pull her into another rather heated and involved kiss.

"We have a plan, remember?" she said. "Don't get sidetracked."

"I thought the plan was you tell me when I'm not allowed and we carry on like that until a few years from now…."

She stared at him. "I _meant_ we had a plan to get you fed and watered," she said before she smacked him in the chest. "Oh. My. God. What is wrong with you?"

"Hey, I was still on the part where Ty's having _twins_? Let me catch up. I'm still a little high and slow," Chance said with an easy grin.

"You are an awful _liar_ ," Elin said. "I _know_ you're not high."

Chance grinned that much wider at her and pulled her close into yet another long kiss. "Kiss like that, hard to tell the difference."

Elin tried to pull back, not at all amused with his antics, but of course, he wasn't going to let her go that easily. "I don't even know what to say to you when you're like that other than _stop_."

"Rare. I'll take it," Chance said, finally letting her up before he swung his legs around and got to his feet, still grinning at her for a moment before he finally let it fall and looked around the medical wing. "So. I … missed a lot, didn't I?"

She sighed heavily, though she looked down her nose at him to see for herself that he really was alright. "You really did."

"Well," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "catch me up. All I got from Vanessa was that we were attacked."

"What do you remember about the crash?" Elin asked, frowning at him.

He shook his head. "I saw the car coming at the last second and tried to step on the gas - next thing I know, I've got Jean Gray telling me to get back here before it was a more permanent stay…"

"Wait, what …" Elin stopped and stared at him. "Are you sure you weren't concussed?"

He tipped his head to the side and studied her. "I don't think so," he said. He took her by the hand, and they ducked into an empty room for better privacy. "I thought I told you… but I was kind of high? So I might not have… Um… my step-mom thinks you're pretty great, by the way."

"Then you were either hallucinating or she's not an idiot, one or the other."

"Felt too real," Chance said, shaking his head. "She told me I had to get back to you. I tried to take Vanessa back with me too, but…" He bit his lip and looked down. "I couldn't. I'm sorry."

"Vanessa was dead at the scene, Chance," Elin said. "She broke her neck."

Chance's shoulders fell when he heard it, and he let out a slow breath. "I didn't know that part," he said. "I just know… well, between Jean and Charles Xavier, I got back. I wasn't gonna leave you."

She bit her lip and stared at him for a long moment. "I don't know about any of that," Elin said. "All I know is that James was the first one up and about, and he'd pulled you out of the car. Your belt had been cut, and you …" She poked him in the chest. "... smell like my brother. So he must have tried to keep you going before they took him away."

"Wait, who took him away?" Chance asked, his head coming up sharply. "What - what are you talking about?"

"Sinister took him," she said. "She was there with the Marauders. They were the ones that hit us and killed Vanessa. We can't find Sinister _or_ James."

Chance stared at her for a long time before he simply pulled her into a tight hug. "We'll find him," he said. "And then - I don't know. Probably never let him out of our sight."

"I know," she agreed. "He's got to be out there."

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "Alright. Let's stock up on some food - and then I think I'd like to repay the Marauders, don't you?"

"I just want to find my brother before that creep does something to him. I don't give a damn about the Marauders," Elin said.

Chance nodded at that and pulled her into another long hug. "Yeah, I love him too," he said. "Let's go get him."

* * *

In the next room over, Tyler had sat down with Hank and Teddy beside the still-sedated Billy. Hank had something to reverse the sedation, but he also had something to put Billy under again if something went wrong.

But with Teddy holding Billy's hand, Tyler was determined that nothing was going to go wrong with this one. They were owed a few successes after the past twenty-four hours.

Tyler concentrated hard until he found the particular energy that was Billy's powers and turned them off before he nodded to Hank, and Hank quickly administered the stimulant. It only took a moment before Billy started to stir, and his eyes cleared as he took in the room, frowning to himself as he watched the occupants.

Teddy didn't even bother to wait for Billy to finish taking it all in before he pulled him into a solid kiss and then hugged the stuffing out of him. "You scared the crap out of me," he said.

Billy frowned a bit deeper before he almost hesitatingly hugged Teddy back. "What… did I do?" he asked slowly.

"You froze up and turned non-responsive," Teddy told him, sounding strained at the memory of it. "We had to bring you to Westchester … Tyler turned you off…"

Billy frowned, clearly trying to concentrate a little better, and then looked over at Tyler and Hank, who were watching him carefully. "So... " He looked back toward Teddy and then very gently brushed a hand through his hair. "Is this where I left? I can't tell anymore."

"You … didn't … leave," Teddy said.

"Ah." Billy nodded and let his hand drop. "Well, I hope you get your Billy back soon. He's very lucky to have you."

"I don't think you understand," Hank said. "And we need to know what happened to you while you were preparing for your Valentine's."

At that, Billy paused and turned Hank's way. "I…" He bit his lip and looked back toward Teddy. "Where I'm from, I was just… I saw the future shift. I saw our friends twisted up, killed…" He ran a hand through his hair. "I was so distracted looking at the future I didn't see Apocalypse standing _right in front me_. Like an _idiot_ ," he said, sounding frustrated as he put his head in his hands, grasping handfuls of his hair as he did so.

"Are you sure it was Apocalypse?" Hank asked urgently. "We were under the impression that he was dead."

"I…" Billy glanced up at Hank as Teddy kept a hand on his shoulder, looking upset. "I don't know anymore," he said. "I've seen so many worlds…" He put his head back in his hands and let out a sob that had Teddy pulling him tighter.

Hank nodded and went to his comm. "Mr. Wagner, we could use your assistance in the lab," Hank said. "Please acquire your best friend." He turned to Billy and Teddy, and though his tone was comforting, he was deadly serious. "I believe we can go low-tech with this one."

A short few moments later, Kurt, Logan, and K all appeared not far from where the three of them were waiting. Logan frowned at the scene, but as soon as he got halfway close to Billy, he took a step back, looking as if he'd been hit with cold water. "El Sabah Nur …"

Billy's head came up fast as he stared at Logan. "I thought I saw him," he said quietly.

"His scent is on you," Logan said, though his expression hadn't changed in the least.

"I… I've been to a few… dozens of worlds," Billy said, dropping his gaze.

"No, you haven't," Teddy said. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. You haven't left … you're just seeing them."

Billy let out a tired sort of sound as he leaned his head into Teddy's shoulder. "There are so many where he's running things," he said. "I've seen so many people die, Teddy. I can't - I can't stop him. I keep moving dimensions before I can figure out how to stop him."

"Sounds to me like he knows you _can_ stop him and he's trying to keep you from getting a handle on it," Tyler pointed out.

"There has to be a way," K said, looking focused. "Even if you're not juggling things."

Billy looked thoughtful as he tried to focus. "I'm… trying to remember what I saw in _this_ world," he said. He glanced up at Logan. "I think… I think you're in trouble. And some of the kids. I just… can't remember."

"That really doesn't surprise me," Logan replied. "I broke free before. I can do it again if I have to."

"There's - there's so many options for him," Billy said. "Magda was _terrifying_ … and gods help us if Chloe and Apocalypse have a meeting of the minds…"

"Who are the ones at risk?" K asked. "In any of the worlds you saw."

Billy ran his hands through his hair, obviously trying to concentrate. "There's a lot," he said. "I saw worlds where both of you were involved… Tyler, man, you gotta watch out for that turning people off thing, because when it's inverted, it is _wicked_. And whatever you do, just… stay away from the Pestilence title. That is _bad._ " He shook his head, still trying to think. "All of the kids. _All of them_ are powerful enough to hit his radar… James and Elin… Chloe in a _lot_ of worlds. She's … she's got a mean streak…" He narrowed his eyes. "Amadi … oh, the Lee twins are a _horrible_ Pestilence-Famine duo."

"Not like anyone has a choice in it when it happens," Logan pointed out. "Even if he makes you think you do."

Billy nodded. "No… I know… but everyone has a personal spin on it," he said softly.

"Yeah, I know," Logan said before he let out a breath and turned to Hank. "We need to tell Scott."

Hank nodded in agreement. "Yes. Now," he agreed as he got to his feet, resting a hand on Tyler's shoulder as he went past with Logan and K, leaving him with the second sedative dose so that Tyler would be able to deal with Billy when he was too tired to keep the powers back.

The three of them didn't have to look far for Scott, though, because Scott had just gotten off the phone with Storm and was headed to the War Room to scramble the teams from there. "We have a situation," he told the three of them when he saw them. "Amadi's missing, and Remy saw James take her."

Logan was nodding already. "Billy's got El Sabah Nur's scent on him."

Scott stopped outright and then let out a frustrated noise. "Remy said James wasn't himself, but it was just a suspicion until now." He shook his head. "That's one mystery solved, but Logan…"

"Not necessarily what you think it is," Logan said. "Just because he's workin' with them doesn't mean it's gotta be a Horsemen situation. He's got dozens of servants that do not want to be there."

Scott gave Logan a wry sort of look. "Until we know for sure, we have to operate assuming the worst."

Logan nodded once and kept his gaze to the ground. "Pestilence is first."

"And he came after Amadi, too. A weather witch could definitely cause famine," Scott pointed out. He let out a sigh and then looked toward K. "Anyone on the junior squad is benched from any missions until we can regroup. We need everyone back home. Now," he said. "And if you could let Annie know - this kind of threat, we're going to need all hands. Whoever you want to watch John…"

K nodded and then turned to leave. "I'll take care of it." She wasn't even out of the room before she had her phone to her ear. "Wade, I need to talk to your wife - and while you're at it, your help might just be appreciated."

She made her way upstairs, while Wade promised to be there with all of the big weaponry, and when she got into the kitchen, she let out a breath when the first people she saw were Annie and Kate. "We have big problems," K said, slipping the phone back into her pocket. "All hands on deck, I've got my sister on the way to take John and whoever else wants to go to the cottage for the duration." She let out a breath. "No junior team members out on missions. At all."

Kate's eyebrows shot up, and she let out a low breath, almost unconsciously looking toward Chelsea, who was messily mashing up her bananas in her high chair. "What are we looking at?" she asked.

"El Sabah Nur," K replied. "Logan confirmed it: Scott sounds like he believes he's gathering horsemen."

"Do you need extra hands at the cottage?" Annie asked almost immediately, looking stressed.

"I'd ask your husband where exactly he wants you. I'm not entirely sure where he needs you most, but if it's as bad as I think, you might just get some action, Annie Oakley."

Annie looked outright surprised. "Oh. That _is_ bad."

"Welcome to the team, Boss Lady," Kate said with a small, sort of tight smile before she turned to K. "I'll talk to the bamfs about helping out at the cottage."

"I'm sure they'll be game," K said before she tapped her hip where the phone was. "Wade is on the way to pitch in - and I'm sure Logan's got Steve on notice."

Kate nodded quickly. "I'll get some things for Chelsea," she said. "And… Kade too. The others are old enough to stay here even if they aren't going out for missions, but he's still too young."

"I'm sending Sadie and Malin. They can help with the kids," K said. "Neither of them have any real talent with fighting anyhow - better they're tucked away than to worry about having to pull them out of trouble."

"I'll ask around; the other parents will feel the same, I'm sure," Annie said. "I know I'd feel better if my grandbabies were at the cottage."

"There's the Granny Annie we know and love," Kate said with a small smile as the two of them immediately launched into action to get the baby food and other things together to send off with the kids.


	6. War

The mansion was quiet, and the grounds were empty. There was no sign of anyone coming or going at all, but even from where the three Horsemen stood, it was obvious that the residents of the Westchester Institute were battened down for trouble.

"I'll come get you when I'm finished. Keep their attention," James said quietly before he abandoned the other two in favor of the shadows.

The two girls looked at each other and shared small smirks. They stepped forward together, though Amadi's next steps were in the air as she steadily climbed higher, while every step of Leslie Ann's left dying grass in her wake. Amadi's eyes flashed at the same time a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and the wind around them picked up until a fully-realized tornado was forming in the clouds, the funnel winding down to the ground. Leslie Ann had gone the opposite direction, reaching out deeply with her powers underneath the walls of the mansion, simply yanking large chunks of earth out as tree roots twisted and glared from tiny tap roots. The trees, bushes, and grasses were effortlessly tossing security measures, stone, and sculptures aside as she strode forward, her steps matching Amadi's above her as they approached.

Inside the mansion, the first sign that things were going wrong was the alarm that went off when Leslie Ann yanked the entire front gate and the ground beneath it off of its hinges - though it would be hard for the X-Men go out to face the onslaught, considering the literal tornado headed their way as well.

Before they could react inside, the lights flickered off, and the alarm stopped entirely, though that shouldn't have happened at all. Storm or not. Noh's system was compromised.

Scott was swearing up a blue streak as he went to his comm, shouting over the gale. "Kurt, you, the kids, and the bamfs - get people _out_. Start with the junior squad. _Now_." The order seemed to get more serious when the ground underneath them started to shift and, all at once, the outer windows all blew in their glass with a massive shattering sound.

There were a few _bamfs_ around the house, though not everyone was ready to retreat so quickly. Several of the older kids wanted to fight back and defend their home.

K rushed for the door, ready to dive into the fray with Logan hot on her heels to join her and perfectly focused to play off his wife... until he saw Krissy flat out running, trying to join in too. He stopped and did a double take before shifting direction and doubling down on his speed.

By the time she got to the door, looking determined, he caught up, and without any warning, he slapped a collar on her and locked it down. "Get out of here. _Now._ " He grabbed the nearest bamf by the tail and handed him the key. "Do _not_ let Krissy have this. Give it to Lisbet. She's going to be at K's place."

"What are you _doing_?" Krissy yelled at him, her tail switching behind her as she pulled at the collar.

"You're _not_ going out there," he snarled back at her in a tone she'd never had directed at her. While she was still in shock, he snapped for the next bamf to teleport her out.

Krissy was absolutely livid when she appeared in the cottage, startling Lisbet and Annie's sisters who had volunteered to help, along with a alarmed-looking Tammy. "Ooooh," she said, her hands in fists as she turned bright pinkish-purple.

Lisbet was listening intently to the bamf before she clutched the key to her chest when Krissy stormed up to her and then quickly shoved it down her blouse.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Krissy said.

"He's right," Lisbet replied. "You're not going anywhere."

"You can't — you can't take his side on this!" Krissy fumed. "I'm an _X-Man!_ "

Lisbet let out a growl — not something that she did often at all — and drew herself up to her full height. "And in this, I am taking his side. Every time." She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger in Krissy's face. "Think about it. How often has he done this?"

"To me?" Krissy shot back.

"No," Lisbet replied, hands on her hips. "To _anyone._ "

Krissy threw up both of her hands in pure frustration. "I'm old enough to get married; I should be old enough to fight — no matter _who_ the bad guy is!"

"That's not all you're old enough for," Lisbet shot back with some serious heat.

Krissy spun to put her finger in Lisbet's face, but Lisbet could almost see the moment the penny dropped and her tail went still behind her. "Wha… but…"

The little blonde tipped her chin down and raised her eyebrows before she crossed her arms.

"Happy late Valentines," Tammy said with a small smile.

"He knows it's all hands on deck," Lisbet said quietly. "Do you really think he'd pull you out without a good reason? When he trained you _himself_?"

"And Scott _did_ say no junior squad," Tammy added.

Krissy stared at Lisbet and then at Tammy before she dropped her shoulders and let her shock show. "I… I haven't even… it's not _late_ enough for a test. We weren't…."

"Which is why _he_ could catch it," Lisbet said. "The nose knows."

When it was clear Krissy was totally floored by the revelation, Tammy made her way over to pull Krissy by the shoulders. "Come spoil your little sister with me," she said. "Looks like you're here for the duration. One way or another."

* * *

At the mansion, the bamfs had more or less gotten everyone under the age of eighteen out of the house by that point, and for the rest of the group, it was a matter of grabbing an X-Man and teleporting them out before the walls came down around them.

The remaining X-Men, then, were out on the lawn when they saw Amadi, clad in a long black dress with a white cape that reached all the way down her back when it wasn't billowing in the wind behind her, call on a second tornado to simply trash the mansion. They didn't get to focus on that for too long when Leslie Ann grinned their way and threw out a hand toward the biggest group. Cracks ran along the ground underneath them as it swelled and buckled under the pressure of roots and other plant life. Like James and Amadi, she'd undergone a wardrobe change as well, her short, curly hair pulled back with rose thorns and her green, almost see-through cape trailed dead and wilting plants behind it everywhere it touched.

Scott's glare hardened into an optic blast as he moved to knock Amadi out of the sky, but the ground beneath his feet shifted at the last second, throwing off his aim, and he spun to face a grinning Leslie Ann.

"What's wrong, Uncle Scott?" she asked, her head tipped to the side and a manic grin on her face. "Don't want to play with me? Not the same starry-eyed little girl anymore?"

Before she could take a swipe at Scott, he was bowled over sideways when Logan tackled him and then dragged him out of the line of fire. "Get a move on, Slim," Logan told him.

"I've got him!" Wade offered. "I have a doctorate in saving shocked Summerses — and this one's a _lot_ lighter than the one I usually haul around!"

"Just get him outta here, Wade!" Logan snarled as Wade tried to get Scott to his feet.

Scott took a second to shake his head, still clearly floored by Leslie Ann, before he pulled his arm away from Wade and glared Logan's way. "I thought I told you to stay away from this fight. You know he still needs War and Death!"

"And I'm still not going to break my promise to Annie to haul your ass outta trouble if you can't get a move on." He pulled Scott to his feet and pushed him forward. " _Go_."

"You heard the little fella," Wade said, and before Scott could argue it, Wade had scooped him up in a fireman's carry and started to run. Even against Scott's protests and fight to get loose. Wade _wasn't lying_. He had _a lot_ of experience hauling Cable out of tight spots and he knew how to adjust and evade Summerses even at that close range.

Above their heads, Rachel had stepped in to fly up to Amadi, pushing back against the strong winds to try and take her down to the ground — or at least disrupt the weather fighting them. And with Leslie Ann keeping most of the team on uneven footing, Kurt simply teleported to the grinning woman, circumventing the groundswell with swords drawn.

Leslie Ann barely stepped out of the way and then spun to face Kurt, her grin widening into something almost hungry as the rose thorns slid out of her hair down her arms. Then, she grabbed Kurt by the arm, her eyes glowing green.

Kurt felt his knees buckle underneath him, and Leslie Ann grew stronger, somehow, her skin a strange greenish color from the point of contact with Kurt as a golden energy was traveling up her arms. "So full of life," she murmured as Kurt began to slump even further.

"Oh, crap," K muttered from where she'd been trying to get closer to Amadi. She started to search the grounds for some way to get to Kurt or knock him loose, but there wasn't a thing tall enough to get her close to where he was. "A little help!" she called out. "Someone …"

It ended up being Tommy who responded, rushing over to where she was as he held his hands out in front of him to steady himself on the uneven ground to keep from falling flat on his face — again. "Which one you want me to pitch to?"

"Kurt — we gotta get Kurt," she said, tipping her head toward Leslie Ann.

"Got it," Tommy said, simply grabbing K by the back of the jeans and throwing her straight at Leslie Ann, who was distracted enough with the nearly-unconscious Kurt that she didn't see it coming until K knocked into her, punching her hard enough when she made contact that Leslie Ann was knocked backwards into the dirt, barely conscious.

K grabbed a hold of Kurt and tucked around him as they fell into a crack in the ground, fully intending to tuck and roll, though one of the bamfs got there first to get them down for a lot softer landing. "Nail her, Tommy," K snarled out.

Tommy didn't even hesitate to rush over and simply lay into Leslie Ann as hard as he could - which, considering the enhanced strength, was enough to knock her out the rest of the way from where she had been seeing stars. "Okay. Okay. Now what?" he said, glancing up at Amadi, who was still above their heads fighting Rachel — and dodging some plasmoids from Jubilee.

"I don't know," K admitted. "I have no idea what to do with this mess." She shifted how she had Kurt propped up and looked toward what was left of the mansion. "Where the hell are the guys that _know_?"

* * *

"Why aren't you with the _X-Men_?"

Sying stopped from rushing out to the fight when he heard the unmistakable voice, though something sounded _off_ in the meter. He took a moment to backtrack, frowning hard. He had never in his life doubted his hearing before, so he had no reason to doubt it now, but if _James_ was here…

"James?" he called out, poking his head into the partially collapsed room, wary of the walls that hadn't yet come down as he did so.

James stepped out of the shadows — but only just. "Where are the others?"

For a moment, Sying could only stare at his uncle — clad in black, the shadows seemed to move with him. What little details he could decipher looked like smoky metal and blood red … and the shocking attire only looked that much more ominous with a cape that pulled the shadows with him as if the darkness itself was attracted to James. And there were things that wer definitely _not_ James. Like the slight yellow glow of his eyes that looked like a more ominous and evil version of how Kurt's eyes glowed. And the flat sort of expression when James looked right at Sying. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to tell you where anyone is, all things considered," Sying said, still watching James carefully. "What's gotten into you? Come on, I know you can fight this kind of stupid."

James didn't move and didn't respond more than to smirk at him.

Sying shook his head as he very carefully kept moving forward. "What does she have you doing?" he asked, still steadily moving closer. "Come on. Even if you can't shake her entirely, you can shake her long enough to help. Give me _something_!" But James remained motionless.

When Sying got close enough, James darted forward and hit him, then popped his claws into Sying's chest before he leaned forward to whisper in Sying's ear in a tone that screamed pain in spite of the low volume. "I don't _want_ to fight it."

Sying's eyes were wide as he stared at James, shocked at the glare of what _seemed_ to be pure hatred. He sunk to his knees as he held onto James' arm. A few sparks fell off of his fingertips, but he wasn't able to do much more than that as he slid to the ground.

With a sneer, James hoisted Sying up across his shoulder as the shift in the air opened up a doorway, and he simply stepped through with Sying and then dropped him unceremoniously in front of Apocalypse then stepped around Sying to stand to Apocalypse's right.

Sying was already starting to heal as he glared up at Apocalypse, though the "buzz off" was very quiet with a punctured lung.

Apocalypse leaned forward slightly, meeting Sying's gaze for only a moment before he looked to James. "Retrieve Pestilence and Famine. When they are away from the X-Men, bring death to the irritants playing at strength and heroics on the West Coast. Show them your purpose," he told James.

James tipped his head before he took a step back. "As you wish." He turned almost directly into the doorway made of light that opened up at his command, leaving Sying alone with En Sabah Nur.

Sying glared angrily up at Apocalypse, his arms wrapped around his chest. "You're gonna regret this," he said in a hoarse voice. "Leave my family alone." He tipped his chin up defiantly. "I won't help you."

"Such spirit," Apocalypse said, stepping closer. "That fire will serve me well once it's channeled properly. Your strengths … they do not all come from the stars, but such an alliance may be what is needed to cleanse this world of the chafe that has tried to overtake it." As with the others, Sying found himself in Apocalypse's grasp as the massive man effortlessly grasped his head with both hands and stared into his eyes. The longer Sying was in his grasp, the more furious he felt — at the situation, at the injustice of it all… and then he was just angry, black sparks dripping from his hands. "Show me the superiority that your breeding intended." Sying struggled to break free as a disgusted sort of sensation rose up in his chest. It was a sensation that he hadn't succumbed to since he was _young_. Since he was convinced of how much more _evolved_ his Kree lineage was to everyone around him. It was a sort of arrogance and pride that was well backed up with all that his body was able to sustain and his disdain for those beneath him began to bubble to the point of bloodlust.

"After too long of a wait, you will rise up and cleanse this world as my final horseman of War. Do not let your alien blood fail me as Deathbird did before you." He gestured with both arms as he stepped back from the shaking young man. "Go. Wreak havoc on those that have oppressed you."

* * *

**At the same moment that Sying was firmly in Apocalypse's grasp, James had reappeared on the mansion lawn to find that the X-Men had gained some real ground against the other two. Leslie Ann was unconscious, but Amadi was still fighting in a raging maelstrom, with lightning sparking in the air around her as she stood her ground in front of Leslie Ann, calling down a few strikes to anyone who dared to try to get any closer.**

James watched her from the growing shadows then simply picked up Leslie Ann and glanced up at Amadi wordlessly — the open glowing door just behind him promising safety. Amadi didn't need any further prompting to push back against the X-Men hard, then disappear with James, leaving the X-Men to catch their breath and take stock of themselves.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Scott asked as soon as the wind had died down enough to be heard, though even after Amadi had left, the gathered storm clouds didn't look as if they were going to easily disappear.

Already, Tommy and Noh were rushing to take account of the group, but Kate paused when she looked over the remnant gathering junior squad members who were old enough to have stayed behind for the all hands call — even against Scott's order for them to leave. "Oh my — what the — where's _Krissy_?" she demanded, her voice rising in pitch as it was clear she was starting to panic.

"At the cottage," Logan said as he and Scott came closer. "She's safe."

"What — I didn't know she was staying there," Kate said. "I thought Kari was staying behind to help with Chelsea."

"She did," Logan said. "We can talk about it later. You wanted to know where she was — that's where she was."

"Anyone else missing?" Scott asked, taking stock of Chance and Elin counting their numbers too, though it was Tommy who ultimately came back looking worried.

"Umm, anyone seen Sying?" he panted.

Noh froze when he heard Tommy and then bolted, running the length of the mansion rubble once more as he called for Sying, but it was obvious that wasn't going to do any good.

Meanwhile, K was still standing where the three Horsemen had disappeared, just staring out toward the fenceline in shock. She had been close enough to watch as James came out of thin air and disappeared with Amadi and Leslie Ann. She'd been too far away to _get to them_ in time, but that only seemed to add salt to the wound. "Is Kurt alright?" she asked quietly, her tone distant as she tried to wrap her head around how James could be using one of Cable's tricks to move around.

Jubilee nodded from where she was seated beside her unconscious friend. "He's— I mean. He's _thin_. But Ty says there's nothing — he says it's _starvation_. Not something he can fix…"

"Have a bamf take him to the kids. I'm sure the Hale girls can fix that," she said, though she wasn't looking at anything in particular, still frowning.

Chance made his way over to her to put a hand on her shoulder. "Mom," he said quietly to get her attention. "We have to go."

"Yeah, sure … alright," K said, though she didn't move until he took her arm and pulled on her a little. "Where the hell are we going?"

"We need a place to regroup that James hasn't been," Scott said. "The problem is he knows the systems for the Avengers and the schools."

She thought about it for a long moment and then slowly nodded her head. "Okay. He doesn't know all of my hideouts — just the most … ah … the most reasonable ones." She still sounded distracted, her focus not all there and obviously stunned from what she'd seen of James.

Logan came over and put his arm around K's waist so Chance could go back to Elin. He didn't even try to hide that he was trying to distract her through any means necessary as he leaned in and kissed the side of her head. "What about that place in Montana?" Logan suggested low.

That seemed to be enough to snap her out of it, and she nodded and then turned to a bamf. "I'll take this one — and he can show the others how to get everyone there." She gave Logan a short but engaged kiss, though she was still distracted before she and the bamf disappeared.

"The others will know once that one gets there," Logan said.

Scott nodded. "Well, we know who he's using," he said with a sigh before he put his hand on Logan's shoulder. "Now, we get them back."

Logan let out a breath but didn't acknowledge him beyond that. He wanted to know what had K so far off her game - but at the same time, he knew it couldn't be anything in their favor if she was that far off base.

* * *

When Kurt woke up, the first thing he was aware of was the fact that Krissy had thrown her arms around him as soon as his eyes were open. And the second was that both Theresa and Rachel were there too — with hot food waiting for him. In fact, after he smelled the food, he was reasonably sure that was what had woken him up.

He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he gratefully took the first bite, and then he was quiet for a while as he went from a few tentative bites to wolfing it down, all while Krissy stared at him.

"What happened to you, Papa?" she asked at last, her eyes wide. "When I left, you were fine, and now you look like you haven't eaten in months."

"That is precisely how it feels," Kurt replied between bites before he slowed down enough to lean back.

Krissy shook her head as Chelsea snuck her way over to climb up beside Kurt and give him a concerned-looking hug. "Dad sleepy," Chelsea said, patting his cheek helpfully.

"The bamfs said you were starving," Krissy explained.

Kurt nodded as he wrapped Chelsea up and kissed the top of her head. "Yes, well, that would be Famine."

"Amadi?" Krissy raised her eyebrows high.

Kurt shook his head slowly. "No, Leslie Ann."

"Oh." Krissy's eyebrows shot up. "I — I didn't see who we were fighting."

"How did you miss it?" Kurt asked.

Krissy glanced up at Lisbet and blushed a brilliant pink. "Logan sent me here," she said, studiously leaving out the part where she'd been collared.

Kurt paused, his eyebrows drawn together as he looked at her. "Why would he do that?"

The deep pink only seemed to deepen. "Um…" She bit her lip. "Probably because you're going to be a grandpapa," she said in almost a whisper and then winced out a smile. "Surprise!"

Kurt stared at her in open shock for a long moment before he simply shifted how he was sitting to pull her into a one-armed hug — with Chelsea still snuggled into his other side. "How long have you known?"

"I … didn't," Krissy admitted, then tapped the side of her nose. "Logan did."

Kurt frowned at that. "And where is _he_? Or … perhaps a better question is: where is Sying?"

"I don't know. You're the first one I've seen since Logan sent me here," Krissy said. She glanced toward one of the bamfs, who nodded and disappeared to go see what he could find, and then turned back to Kurt. "Was he okay? You were in the fight."

"He was fine last time I saw him," Kurt said, frowning as he looked around the room. "Where is everyone?"

Tammy waved at him with a wry smile. "Sorry, you're in the 'pregnant or unable to fight' group," she said.

"Where are the others, then?" Kurt asked, smirking her way slightly.

Almost in answer to his question, the bamf from earlier reappeared, though he seemed incredibly wide-eyed as he started chattering at Kurt quickly, nearly panicking.

"What's going on?" Theresa asked with a frown.

"Gather up the little ones," Kurt said as he shakily got to his feet. "We need to leave."

"Let me help," Krissy said quickly, helping to steady Kurt as she took Chelsea so he could stand better.

"You don't know where K wants us to go," Kurt pointed out as he offered her his hand. "But I can show you."

Krissy nodded quickly, and in an instant, all three of them were in one of K's hideouts — a hidden away spot in the mountains near the Canadian border.

"We need to get them all here quickly, before James goes looking for them," Kurt said. "If what they said was right, he will kill them."

Krissy was still wide-eyed as she nodded, letting Chelsea down for a moment, though she waited until Kurt had gone to bring back both of the Hale sisters so that Chelsea wasn't alone before she followed him back, teleporting quickly with two at a time until she was worn out — with the bamfs getting the rest of the group when Kurt had worn himself out as well.

"What's going on, exactly?" Kari asked, looking between the bamfs and Kurt as the bamfs disappeared to go meet up with the other group — to get _them_ to safety too, in Montana.

Kurt let out a weary sigh from where he was seated. "James has become the horseman of Death."

Kari froze and stared at him. "What… what are you talking about?"

"I suppose if you look at who was taken, it makes sense," Kurt said quietly. "Logan once had that title as well." He looked worn out well beyond just physically as he covered his eyes with one hand.

"But he — he _can't_ be Death," Kari insisted. "He can't."

Kurt looked up at her. "He is, _prinzessin_."

Kari shook her head as she sat down heavily, looking so distraught that Chelsea abandoned snuggling Kurt to go hug her sister instead.

Sadie and Malin had heard every word — not just from Kurt and Kari but from the buzz going around the rest of the group that was gathered as well, and both little girls were getting quieter and quieter. Sadie was holding John, and as everyone started scrambling to get their mother's hidden gem squared away and _feed_ the crew, the three little Howletts headed over to a quiet corner to curl up together away from everyone. They snuggled up with a blanket and tried to make sense of all of it without any adults able to help them when they were so busy organizing. It was particularly rough without their parents around to clue them in to how much was speculation. And to tell them the full truth — even if it was scary.

Once things were a bit more settled, Rachel Wright made her way over to where Kurt was to sit beside him and fix him with a penetrating sort of look. "I don't know much about what's going on — I don't really know anything about this person they're all fighting — but do you know what else I didn't know? I didn't know my little girl was part of it until you showed up here," she said. "So tell me the truth: what do you mean when you say she's _Famine_?" Her voice dropped as she finished her question, her worry clear to see.

Kurt drew in a breath and, for the first time that Rachel could remember, he didn't meet her gaze as he gathered his thoughts. "I don't know how much you know about any of this, but there is a terrible mutant — one who claims to have been the first ever. He possesses abilities that warp and twist those that others were born with. He always chooses four to do the work for him — to clear his path to power — and he calls them his horsemen. We're not sure if those in the bible were named before or after his horsemen, but the sentiment is the same."

Kurt took a moment to let that much settle. "He only ever chooses powerful mutants — and when he does, he warps their abilities to suit those of biblical terror. We thought that James had been chosen to be Pestilence, since that is usually who he chooses first, but we were wrong."

Rachel was silent, clearly trying to take it all in as she watched Kurt. "And what happens to my baby now?" she asked quietly. "That doesn't sound like something you can just… let happen."

"That will depend greatly on how quickly we can get them freed from his influence," Kurt admitted. "The longer they are in his thrall, the harder it is to break."

Rachel let out an almost disbelieving sound. "If I shoot this jerk in the heart, will I get my baby back?" she asked.

"If it was that simple, I assure you, K would have already shot him with every round she had and likely put his head on a pike as a warning to those that might consider anything like this," Kurt said. "But it's not that simple or straightforward. The truth is, we thought that Apocalypse was dead."

"Y'all seem to have that problem a lot."

"Unfortunately, it does seem to apply not only to us but to those that would kill us," Kurt admitted.

"So, what do we do? How do I get my girl - and Amadi and James and whoever else — back?"

"We need to know who all of the players are and then, likely, we'll have to wait for Apocalypse to make his move. We have no idea where he is staging this time around, or I'd be fueling up the jet right now."

"You aren't in any shape to go anywhere. You don't just _bounce back_ from starvation."

"You have a stilted view of things," Kurt scoffed.

Rachel gestured at him. "Yes. That's why you're sitting there looking as tired as that."

"I'll be fine; don't worry about that," Kurt said, his tone a bit more authoritative.

"It's my job to take care of whoever gets sent here, and you're one of 'em," Rachel said. "Get used to it."

Kurt pointed a finger her way. "You don't even know where here is," he said.

She returned the point right back. "Does it matter?" she said. "That's not my job."

"It might matter," he replied, tipping his chin up.

She shook her head at him. "Fine. Walk up those stairs and prove you don't need help."

"I swear to you, Rachel, Scott is devising a plan right now — and with Logan there to work with him to decipher where Apocalypse might be headed, or how he's operating, it will happen quickly."

"Good. Then I hope you all find those kids quickly. Now sit there and feed yourself so you can help them," she said. She got up to get some food, then paused and looked back his way. "You never did say — who's the fourth?"

"I don't know," Kurt admitted. "In the past, he's always gone in order, but clearly, Amadi seems to be Pestilence and Leslie Ann Famine. James … I'm told that James is Death — who is usually last. I don't know who War is."

"Vanessa said that she was getting in the way of plans," Kari said suddenly, looking between the two adults with wide eyes. "If they had to kill her first, and James was there…."

Kurt met her gaze, looking as if at least that much was sensible. "That would explain things out of order," Kurt said, nodding. "Then whoever we see next is War."

Kari bit her lip and nodded, falling silent again as the conversation lulled — though that meant it was quiet enough that the group of them could hear Charlie quietly sniffling. Despite Chloe's best efforts, Charlie hadn't come untucked since she arrived, which was probably why the bamfs had brought both girls to the group of non-fighters when they all split up.

"Charlie," Kurt called out gently. "What can I do to help?"

Charlie curled in on herself tighter, and Chloe looked up with an open look of worry. "She's been like this the whole time," she explained.

Kurt got up and crossed the room to crouch down next to her and wrap his arms around her, gently trying to focus on some positivity and even smirking to himself as he thought of what Krissy had told him. "Hope is not lost," he whispered.

"It's gone," she whispered back, though she had shifted to hang onto him tightly. "His song is gone."

Kurt frowned at that. "Whose song is gone?"

"James," she said. "It's gone. There's just…. Nothing. Anger and despair and pain, but it's not _him."_ She picked up her head and let out a little noise before she buried her face in his shoulder. "All three of them… I could hear them. They're all hurting so much."

He pulled her in closely and kissed the top of her head. "It will be temporary," he told her. "Jean and Professor Xavier could not find Logan when he was Death. It's _temporary._ "

Charlie held onto him tightly for a long time before she glanced up at Kurt, clearly trying to get a handle on it. "I… I saw James." She glanced toward Krissy. "I saw him in the mansion."

Kurt perked up at that, and unseen to the others, so did Sadie and Malin. "What was he doing?" Kurt asked.

She bit her lip. "Finding Sying," she whispered almost too softly for Kurt to catch.

Kurt stiffened and he held his breath. "Have you told anyone?"

Charlie shook her head. "I couldn't - I couldn't get a handle on it. Their songs — the _horsemen's_ songs are overwhelming. It's like they're screaming all the time," she whispered.

Kurt nodded and kept her head tucked under his chin as he tried to comfort her, but with his free hand, he pulled out his phone and texted Scott to let him know what Charlie had seen. He needed to know, after all, if he was going to make a battle plan that would work. "It's because they're in pain," Kurt told her quietly, curling around her.

She nodded. "I didn't want Krissy to know," she said softly.

"We will get them back," Kurt promised, already with a bit of fire in his voice. "All of them."

Charlie just melted into him again and let out her breath. "I really hope so."


	7. Unstoppable Forces

Leslie Ann smiled anxiously to herself as she stepped across the threshold of the building; her hands were shaking until she started running them along the oak wood panels that decorated the walls and doors. It was supposed to make this last vestige of the MRD feel like an Old Boys' Club, but now, it just made it that much easier for her to destroy it. She paused, and an almost nervous laugh spilled from her lips as the gnawing ache in the pit of her stomach constricted. She was so close to finding what she needed to stop the ever-growing need for _more_.

And Apocalypse was right. He had said when he sent her out that there was only weakness here, that people feared what they knew could destroy them. These people didn't deserve the life that was beating through their veins. And those that were weak deserved to give their all to fill the hole that famine had created. It was their own faults after all. If they didn't _exist_ , if their weakness wasn't drawing from the strong, then there would be enough of _everything_ to go around.

She was going to take care of that.

The floorboards were already starting to rot underneath her with every step that she took as she strode through the building, trailing rot and decay where she drew her hand down the walls and the doors. She walked purposely into the meeting, the words of inflammatory hate that would once have terrified her ringing in her ears like useless noise. Her breath began to come to her in short, panting breaths. She was so close …

The door crumbled at her touch, and the meeting beyond the threshold went silent for a split second when they all turned to look at her - and then there was the expected rush for weapons.

Leslie Ann held her hands up in front of her, the gesture sharp. And through that tense move, she reached through the air, directing the walls themselves as tendrils of diseased wood to wrap around the MRD officers. Their arms were yanked back from their weapons, but she took rough care in wrapping the tendrils around their necks as her laugh went from disbelieving and anxious to desperate and hungry. Even their terror was starting to feed her screaming hunger.

When they were stuck good and tight, she darted toward the front of the room and reached out to first hesitantly touch the very tip of her finger to the center of the leader's forehead, not wanting to touch him more than she had to, but at the contact, she couldn't help herself; the gentle, hesitant touch shifted to a fierce, grasping hold.

She leaned in close, her eyes wide and glittering with malice. She wanted them to suffer the same way she was suffering, the same way she _had_ suffered. The vine ropes tightened around all of their necks so they could barely breathe, and she could still remember the feeling of when she was a teenager that had been dragged off into the woods by these same people.

"Do you think others like you will _get the message_?" she said in a shaky tone as the sickly green glow intensified as the man's life slowly drained away. She let out a tense, shaking noise as she fed off of the life force … it was _almost_ a moment of being satiated, but only for the barest moment. When he was nearly dead, she stepped back, disappointed and going mad with hunger.

"More," she muttered before she turned, then trailed her way over to where the next MRD man was with a wide-eyed, desperate expression that needed no introduction as she simply drained the next… and the next one… and the next one...

By the time she'd drained all of the life out of the room, she was shaking from head to toe. It _wasn't enough._ And though is was more delicious to use her bare hands for people like Kurt or the leader of this group, who she knew were strong … it was faster and easier to let her plants do the extracting, to use their natural structure to funnel that golden energy down the tendrils to fill her.

And still … even with all the bodies around her, wasted and shriveled where they were stuck to rotting wood paneled walls … it wasn't enough.

"No…"

She couldn't believe it … she'd taken _so much_ … she'd drained them all, but for as much as she'd taken, she was only that much hungrier. Her hands curled into fists at her sides as the bottomless, black, empty pit at her center turned, twisted, and screamed for more - and then Leslie Ann screamed herself hoarse as she rushed from the building in search of _more_.

There were plenty of others like them. Others that were drawing from resources that were _owed_ to the strong. There were places where the weak gathered to plan their attacks on their betters - wasting resources, drawing in oxygen that they did not deserve. And as she thought of those that Apocalypse had told her to eliminate, her focus became sharper - her hunger more demanding to the point of _madness_. She had no other option but to hunt them down and allow their bodies to feed the plants that she controlled. Those same parasites were destroying _them_ too, after all.

Maybe a bigger crowd would fill her appetite...

* * *

Across the country, James had the headquarters for the West Coast Avengers in shambles. He'd launched his assault silently - and several of their younger, newer members were already bled out on the floor, never having gotten a chance to actually fight back. He'd disabled their security systems and cut the lines that allowed the lesser-known branch of Avengers to reach out on their secured line to call for help - effectively leaving the entire group trapped and helpless once he started cutting them down, using the darkness to his advantage as he stalked silently as his namesake among them.

He was nearly through the complex when he was finally found - and a low growl echoed the hall to warn him of his opponent. "I don't know who you are," the woman growled out. "But you're not leaving in one piece."

James turned lazily and met her gaze before he shifted his stance slightly and stood relaxed, not at all concerned about the fight she was asking for. It only stood to insult Tigra further before she charged. She wasn't expecting him to move the way he did - or for him to have extra strength behind his strikes.

He hit her in the ribs hard, cracking several - and she answered with claws across his chest. But just when she was feeling like she'd made some progress, he launched into an actual assault instead of just playing as he had been - complete with shining metal claws out as he slashed at her in a surgical manner. "You _asked_ for this _,"_ James told her in a low rumble.

She fought well, but he'd been trained his whole life, and frankly, she simply didn't have the chops to keep up. Plenty of blood was shed, but James didn't seem to pay any heed to his injuries as he went forward, and with a strangled scream from Tigra, he sent his claws through her heart. For a moment, the two of them stayed right there, with Tigra trying to understand how he'd done that to her so quickly … and he allowed her to see his face as she struggled for her last breaths. She sounded confused as she put it together … she'd seen him around with Stark for _years_. "J-James?" she asked, her face contorted in pain - and at that, his expression once again went blank as he retracted his claws and dropped her. As soon as she was on the floor, bleeding out rapidly, James stood over her to watch as she bled out, then simply stepped over her, continuing his path as he looked for anyone else that might be breathing still.

The exits were blocked. The jets were disabled. Anyone that was there wasn't going to live through it.

He stopped in every doorway and stood, using his keen senses to listen for any kind of sign of life, though when he got to the labs, he took a bit more time. There were several bodies on the floor, but … he hadn't been through that way, and he simply didn't buy that it was that simple.

He recognized one of the women laid out on the ground. She had blonde hair, wore a lab coat … and he stood over her for a long while, at first waiting to see or hear some sign that spoke against all appearances. But after several minutes had passed and he caught no sign of a breath taken, he hesitated …

 _Bobbi_ , he thought to himself, and for an instant a shock of horror hit him on seeing her hurt. He took a step back, horrified at the fact that he honestly didn't _know_ if he'd killed her, or if the scent of bitter almond in the room was something that he'd done to hem while he was being _Death_ … being _ruthless_ and living out the wicked scenarios he'd dreamed up in his head to deal with people … particularly lab people who had the cleverness, knowhow and _experience_ to be just as vicious using what was around him.

And right about the time he started to wonder, he went almost to his knees as his head throbbed and ached with a sharp sensation that made his eyes feel as if they were being gouged out - and the back of his head felt as if it might crack open. A long moment passed where he screwed his eyes shut and tried not to scream … and it didn't pass until he quit trying to think. And then, he slowly stepped back out of the room and continued his hunt almost as if nothing had happened, though everything about him had shifted once again.

When James finally had finished going through the West Coast Avengers, he took his time taking in the silence around him before he opened up his portal and stepped back through, ready to report to his master that it was done.

* * *

It was so much easier for Amadi to let the storms brew … not like before. Not the careful build that her mother had tried to teach her. No restraint. No boundaries … no holding back.

She smiled grimly to herself as she embraced the growing currents in the air, mixing the warm, wet winds from the south with the angry cold out of the north. It was effortless to make the jet stream bend to her will - to use all of nature to churn up something that matched how she felt and to simply let it unleash.

Amadi watched from high over the gulf as sheets of rain seemed to fall in slow motion, battering the cities along the shoreline. She sneered and pointed toward a small city that was along the coast, directing the worst of the winds right to where the elevation was lowest … and laughed as the tides rose.

It was so far beneath her … the little ants rushing for shelter from the sudden storm, and when she tired of watching them cower in their little stick houses … she simply wiped them from the earth with tornadic winds lifting and shredding the structures with barely a thought from the young woman shifting the very forces of nature to her _whims_.

When she moved on from one area to another, the people in the wake of the storm found no solace in the receding waters as she made sure that the temperatures stayed high and the humidity stifling, in spite of the fact that it was still so early in the year.

It was so subtle … she knew that it would be weeks before the pawns down below even made the correlation between the new swamps and heat - and the growing insect population.

Pestilence was settling in the land.

* * *

Sying was positively _humming_ as he walked through the destruction he'd already caused. Fires were still burning in the distance in Madripoor, but there was no telltale colorful explosion that had given away who it was that had completely blown up the slave trade there.

He stepped around the badly burned bodies as he hummed, the black sparks still dripping from his fingers. "And fire blew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow," he sang to himself, waiting just long enough to see that the Hydra leaders he had left alive were rushing toward the destruction before he took off.

They deserved it. There was nothing else for it. Apocalypse wanted the world to tear itself apart in a war, and Sying knew exactly how to do it. They had _handed_ it to him when he was weaker and easier to catch. Slower. Softer. Holding himself back to the pace set by _inferior_ beings.

Hydra would think that another rival gang had attacked its holdings in Madripoor. The man had actually died when Sying blew up _that_ gang's holdings, but one strategically placed body with wounds that were ambiguous enough would lead to a hundred accusations… The Hand… the underground… anyone that had a say in the slave trade suddenly found themselves with hundreds of dead footsoldiers - and with only each other to blame.

And the world governments would be just as easy.

The pounding anger in Sying's heart overshadowed any other sound as he ran north, his already-red cape dripping with blood when he came to a stop at a Siberian facility. He raised his hands to examine the black sparks that never seemed to stop falling from his nails before he blew on them, and they grew until the resulting explosion was enough to knock even him off his feet.

But it wasn't enough. Not for Sying. He wanted them to _suffer_. And he wanted them to lose.

He rushed in after the explosion, not even feeling the heat of the burning fires. Apocalypse had made sure of that - the fires of war couldn't touch him. His own explosive might was increased a hundred times over, and so his body was immune to its effects.

He found where the scientists were holed up, all white coats and notebooks, and smiled to himself. There was so much to _use_ here. He could get creative about _shrapnel wounds_.

He seized the nearest implements and rushed forward, leaving tools and instruments in their bodies before he finally stopped to look over the scene and shook his head, winding up to knock over a wall as well so that it looked more like damage done by an explosion and not by a _weapon_ like he was.

He smiled to himself as he dropped another plasmoid into the area, humming again, this time a different tune as he left the facility behind. "There's not enough rain in all of Russia," he sang, changing the lyrics slightly, "to wash the sins out of this house…"

He hummed the rest of the song to himself as he headed south. He still had plenty more to do, plenty of governments and organizations to anger, get them pointing their fingers at each other.

It felt good. It felt _right_ to let his anger out this way, to enact revenge. And then, when each act of revenge only reminded him of the weakness of the world, he was angry all over again.

By the time Sying did finally tire himself out, the pawns were already behaving exactly as they should, making a lot of noise, blaming each other, gearing up for outright war. He was running low, the steady drip of his plasmoids slowing to a trickle, and he'd had to pause a few times to raid the stocks of a few military installations and refuel. But finally, he was spent, and he headed back to where his master would be waiting, singing under his breath as he walked back.

"This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race," he sang to himself, humming the verses, the beat of the music a fitting echo of the heartbeat of fury still pounding in his chest.

He was the last one to arrive, but only just - it looked like Leslie Ann had just arrived as well, the rose thorns climbing back up her arms and neck and back into her hair, the slightest red at their tips showing where she had very recently put them into someone - another anti-mutant group.

Sying smirked at that. His own cape was _dripping_ with blood. He wasn't quite as delicate as Leslie Ann was when it came to cleansing the world. And Amadi was positively spotless - though that might have been from the damp air that still clung to her.

James, on the other hand, was even more bloodied than Sying was . He was positively splattered nd soaked with it, though it was a less obvious on the deep black he was wearing, it showed through ominously where the black gave way to dark, blood coated metal.

"You have done well," Apocalypse said, looking entirely too smug as he looked over his four servants. "It's time that you showed yourself to your most powerful enemies and _cut_... _them_... _down_. Make an example of those humans that think themselves so superior. Make them understand there is no mistaking who it is that will rule this world."

The four of them waited for the command, only pausing long enough to regroup near James as he opened the portal to step into their next attack, this time to New York to take down the Avengers.

* * *

It wasn't like the Avengers didn't know what was happening, ever since Billy had been hit and then in rapid succession the Four Horsemen had all been chosen. But it was still one thing to know that these kids they had watched grow up were out there destroying people and another to hear how personal it was.

Clint was the one to get the call from Bobbi from the West Coast when she finally blinked out of the drug-induced, death-like state she had managed to put herself and a few students into. She didn't know _exactly_ what had happened to the rest of the West Coast group, but the stabbing and slashing marks….

Bobbi had managed to get the attack on camera too - and what she saw wasn't encouraging at all.

"It was James," she said in an irritated tone, frowning as she watched the playback. "Somehow, he's got _metal_ claws now, and he doesn't seem to care who he cuts with them."

"Metal claws?" Clint said in obvious shock. "We'll come get you, Bob. We must be missing something here."

"No kidding."

Clint shook his head. "Alright, how big of a jet do you need?"

"There's six of us, Clint."

He froze. "Six," he repeated quietly.

"Yeah." Bobbi let out a breath that was obvious from the other end of the comm. "Bring backup."

"I'll take Nat with me," he promised before he hung up, already moving to find his wife and let her know what was going on.

The two of them had barely made it to the Quinjet when another message had come in to the Tower - a totally unexpected one.

A deeply frowning Tony made his way down to where he knew he would find Steve coordinating the best way to track the incidents they thought were tied to the missing kids - Leslie Ann's were most obvious, what with mass starvation deaths, though James' slaughters were easy to follow as well if they knew what to look for.

The flooding and storms were Amadi - but it was hard to track where she was _in_ the storms for how big they were. And Sying was hard to track as well, when there was so much back and forth retaliation on the explosions and attacks.

Tony came right up to where Steve was pouring over reports of Hydra positively wiping out one of its rival trafficking rings and put his phone down right in front of him, the text message from James' phone still on the screen:

_The horsemen are coming. Get out while you can._

Steve stopped what he was doing and then looked up at Tony with a disbelieving sort of smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Looks like he's fighting back," he said.

"Tell that to the people he's been killing," Tony replied dryly.

"This is the first we've heard from any of them besides doing what Apocalypse tells them to," Steve pointed out.

Tony tipped his head to the side. "Think it's on the up and up? Because if it is … we should probably get the word out to the others."

"We should assume it is - and if it isn't, we'll fight them when they come to try and catch us," Steve said, already moving.

Tony started barking out commands, getting his armor to him quickly as Steve warned the others and they began to evacuate the tower. But they weren't quite fast enough to avoid the portal that opened up to give entrance to the four horsemen. The only lucky part about it was that they had gotten the heads up - otherwise, they would have all been in the same room when the Horsemen stepped out looking for them.

As soon as they made their entrance, Amadi took to the air, and Leslie Ann began stalking forward, still riding high from her last attack, but still nowhere near satiated.

And as Sying started forward in a steady, purposeful almost-march, James melted into the growing shadows once the portal closed. The four of them looked as if they were intent on picking the Avengers off right from the start. It was just a matter of who went after each one.

Sying went straight for Steve. The temptation of taking on the quintessential American soldier was just too much to let stand. The imperialism that he stood for would no longer be allowed to exist when Apocalypse cleansed the Earth of this kind of inadequacy. As he approached, he left circular burn marks on the ground from the plasmoids dripping from his fingers before he broke into a run. Steve barely raised his shield in time to keep Sying from outright plowing through him, though the impact shoved Steve backward with a ringing clang against the shield. Sying quickly made use of his speed to get the better of Steve, ducking around him as fast as he could, only emphasizing his Kree blood's engineered superiority to the so called super soldier that was supposed to be the best humanity had to offer. He almost laughed at how sub-par Steve was by comparison. And at how impressed the humans were as a whole when the subject was Steve Rogers.

At first, Steve met each of the attacks with his shield, super soldier reflexes coming into play, but when it was clear to Sying that he wasn't going to get anywhere playing that game, he simply built up a plasmoid big enough that Steve had to tuck into as small of a ball as he could behind his shield, and again, the sound of the vibranium absorbing the blow rang in his ears and echoed through the tower.

Another ringing black explosion had the walls shaking around them, and then Sying darted in, not trying to hit Steve but instead grabbing the shield with both hands.

Steve narrowed his eyes, recognizing the play, and he drove his shield forward, drawing a line across Sying's chest. Sying simply bent backwards with the driving blow and pulled hard, twisting in a way that Steve simply _couldn't_ until there was a cracking sound, and Sying used the advantage he'd won to twist the shield even harder on Steve's freshly broken arm.

But instead of tearing Steve's arm _off_ , the straps tore free, and Sying spun away from Steve and dashed off just out of reach, grinning to himself as he examined the shield. "Spoils of war," he said, holding the shield out in front of him.

Steve glared at Sying, holding his arm tight to his chest. "That doesn't belong to you," he ground out.

"I won it in combat," Sying said, as arrogant as he had ever sounded. "And I'll present it to my master." He held the shield up and flipped it over a couple times. "It suits me," he said, holding it up to his red costume, the white at the edges still rather red as well from blood. "And as I understand it, it belongs on a _super soldier._ "

Meanwhile, Amadi had disappeared down the hall in search of Natasha as Leslie Ann made a beeline for Thor, who was standing in a fighting stance, though he didn't have his hammer in hand - yet.

There wasn't as much plant life for Leslie Ann to use there, though it was quickly apparent that her green outfit itself was teeming with life. Vines seemed to grow from her feet and her gloves as she tossed them toward Thor, following them herself with a wild glint to her gaze.

Thor tore apart the vines when they reached him and waited for Leslie Ann to come to him. She didn't hesitate in the least as she rushed forward, and he caught her arms in one hand.

But that was exactly what Leslie Ann wanted. She grinned outright, leaning forward hungrily so that she was nearly kissing the skin of his knuckles where she muttered, "I've never drained a god before. I wonder if you'll be enough."

Thor scoffed, though lightning seemed to be flashing behind his eyes. "You know not what you've done. Stop this nonsense."

Leslie Ann simply smiled wider as the greenish glow surrounded her, but when she drank in the first of Thor's energy, her eyes widened, and she started to cough, struggling to pull away from him instead as she looked almost ill.

He paused for a moment then reached out to grab a hold of her wrist. "What's wrong, my friend? I thought you wanted to drain a god."

The vines and the greenery in her hair and outfit started to wither as she looked green for a whole different reason. "That is just… so gross," she said, shaking her head as she tried to pull herself out of his grasp. "It's not _natural_."

"One could say the same of you right now, _Amazon._ " Thor increased his grip, going so far as to pull her closer.

And while the three Horsemen were picking their fights, James was watching for the right opportunity in the shadows, ignoring most of the battle as he searched for someone worthy of the kill. He was starting toward Dani when Tony called out from behind him, already having picked him up on the suit's sensors. "Where you going, big guy?" Tony called out, hovering only a foot or two over the ground. "Got your message - or was that you?"

James' eyes narrowed at that. "I haven't given any messages yet," he replied in a low tone that might not have even been heard if not for Tony's microphones. Instead of waiting for the attack this time, though, James started to stride toward Tony and very suddenly lunged - far faster than Tony had clocked him before.

His fist was drawn back, and Tony's systems had barely started up the automatic defense when James made contact with a ringing _snikt,_ cutting right through Tony's armor and into his side. Luckily for Tony, James hadn't gotten his aim quite right - not used to figuring in for his armor.

Not that it didn't hurt - or that Tony wasn't in complete shock. But before he could do more than let out a scream, the suit fired off a unibeam that blasted James backwards and away from him - part of the automated defenses. Then, Tony saw the metal - only for a second - before James retracted his bloodied claws. "Cap! We gotta get outta here!" He was wincing, finding it harder to breathe with the three holes in his chest that, according to his suit, had missed his heart by a few millimeters.

But when James came rushing from where he'd landed - clearly incensed and out for blood - Tony took evasive action and simply rocketed toward where his sensors said Steve was.

Tony was barely in the room with Steve - on the opposite side of Sying - when something metallic hit the shoulder blade on his armor. All at once, Tony's systems failed - and the armor-clad Iron Man fell the handful of feet to the floor, struggling with the weight of his armor. Sying grinned until James snarled out, "He's mine."

For an instant, Sying looked as if he might argue … _War_ should have a shot at the famed warmonger, after all, but as the challenge started to rise to the tip of his tongue, just as quickly, the desire to contradict James in this withered him.

Both Tony and Steve had seen that same expression that James was wearing before - but not on James. It was suddenly abundantly clear that the two of them were in deep trouble. But then, just as suddenly and almost like a blessing, there were a few poofs of blue-purple smoke that had James glaring and looking for the source, since the tiny demons were smart enough not to stay in one place for too long when they knew what they were dropping in on.

With a snarl, James lunged toward Tony, only to come up with a whiff in the smoke that only enraged him further. He watched for a moment as the bamfs teleported around - and with a sneer, he whirled and stabbed, sending his claws through a patch of smoke as it appeared, slashing open one of the little demons.

The chattering that had accompanied the bamfs fell silent before growls started up from every angle - though they were all wary of approaching James and only showed their anger by throwing things at him.

Still, while the bamfs were working hard to teleport out the people in Avenger's Tower in addition to trying to enact revenge for their fallen brother, there was one person who simply didn't need the advantage of a teleporter.

Thor still had a hold of Leslie Ann, and though Amadi had come to her aid, thunder, lightning, and wind were really of no consequence to the God of Thunder.

Sying rushed in against the driving wind where Thor was holding Leslie Ann tight, doing all he could to get her to surrender without further injury, even though his touch seemed to make her wither. With a hiss, Sying rushed toward him and tried to attack, though an Asgardian was far sturdier than any Terran could hope to be, and Thor had even fought more augmented full-blooded Kree than what Sying could offer.

Simply put, they were outclassed. And Thor got it in his mind that he was going to bring down the Four Horsemen on his own if need be. It was his station, after all. To look after the Earth.

This was quickly turning messy for the Horsemen, and none of them were happy about it, so it was just by chance that Thor hadn't gotten the memo about James until the kid had sunk his claws into Thor's side.

In an instant, he'd dropped Leslie Ann - more out of shock than anything else - and as he turned, he backhanded James hard enough to send him flying - right out of the high rise windows.

But it was enough time for Sying to rush in and hoist Leslie Ann over his shoulder - and then rush to Amadi as well to throw her over the other one. "We're leaving," he said, zipping off with the shield still banging against his cape as the only real spoil of war they could claim beyond the disabled Iron Man.

Thor frowned after the retreating horsemen before he turned his attention to the final one. He walked up to the now-open plate glass and looked over the edge. James was still unconscious, badly hurt at the base of the tower, and with Sying having taken both of the girls with him, none of the others would be coming for James.

With one hand extended, Thor summoned his hammer and made his way down to street level, where James was just starting to move, though it was clear he wasn't all there yet. Thor took the handful of steps to where the young man was laid out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him up off of the ground. Thor hadn't yet opened his mouth to talk to him, though, before there was a sharp woosh - and James slashed him across the face and followed it with another slash that Thor jumped back from … before the boy could remove his hand from his arm.

Thor dropped James and took a step back as James staggered to get his balance under control. This was _not_ the young man that he knew. An instant later, Thor's face contorted. He hated what he was about to do, but he knew the X-Men needed to get one of the horsemen down. It seemed fitting that James be the first. He had been gone the longest - and he'd hurt their team in California as if he had no connection to them. Clearly, the boy needed saving from himself. Thor raised his hammer and sent down a massive lightning bolt, leaving James smoking where he lay.

Thor was glaring down at James when there was a rush of air, and Sying came skidding to a stop just a few inches from the scene. "Next time," he said, scooping James up to zip off once more - and return to Apocalypse to make his report.

Leslie Ann was starting to get back some of her pallor, but she still looked ill as Sying got back to the group and laid James down at Apocalypse's feet. He looked up at Apocalypse, who was frowning over the scene, bowed deeply, then took the shield off his back to let it slide to a stop next to James, who had yet to do more than twitch.

"A spoil of war," he said, inclining his head in a bow. "Nightcrawler sent his bamfs to rescue them before we could finish Iron Man or Captain America."

"How did they know to send reinforcements?" Apocalypse demanded.

"The survivors of the West Coast called for help," Amadi said, her eyes flashing, since she hadn't gotten the fight she wanted.

For an instant, Apocalypse glared down at James but quickly turned his attention back to the last three. "And the only Avenger that even lost his weapon was Captain America?" he asked, glaring hard at them all.

"The Iron Man armor was completely disabled," Sying said, gesturing to James. "He ran the armor through. Iron Man was gravely injured." When he realized how deeply in trouble James might be in, the whisper of who Sying used to be breathed through. "He may be dead, but we were unable to bring proof before he was removed."

"Injured." He looked even more unamused as the story continued. "Finish your tale."

Sying glanced toward Leslie Ann, who still wasn't up to snuff, and nodded. "We had to leave the fight. Thor seized Famine - and apparently, Asgardian energy is damaging to her," he said. "Death put his claws in Thor, and the two fought while I brought Famine and Pestilence here." He shook his head and looked angry as, for just a moment, the sparks at his fingertips crackled with more energy. "There was no victory; we only bloodied them."

Apocalypse took a long moment to weigh out his thoughts. "You all carry great potential, but every one of you failed me tonight. I expect the next time that one of you fails to do as you've been ordered - the others should end them." He glared at each of them in turn before he took a few steps toward where James was just starting to rouse. "Now. Leave us."

The other three Horsemen glanced at each other and quickly took their leave, though not so quickly that they didn't see the moment when Apocalypse got a hold of James - who was struggling to get _away_ from his master. Sying in particular heard a whisper quiet 'no' just before Apocalypse had James screaming in agony. But that was all he needed before the three of them rushed out. It wasn't their place to step in between Apocalypse and his servants.

It was, for the time being, the most James had felt like himself since the fiasco began. His mind was only clear long enough to register who was in front of him before Apocalypse started torturing him with psychic pain and telepathic suggestions that multiplied the physical pain he'd been in … doubling and tripling it to the point that James was _begging_ him to stop. He simply was unused to torture of this magnitude.

But it wasn't enough for Apocalypse when the boy was begging for mercy. He wanted to _crush_ him. To punish him for being born with such willfulness as to even entertain thinking without permission. It wasn't until James switched from begging Apocalypse to stop to begging Apocalypse to kill him that Apocalypse instead pushed back all the pain to allow James' psyche to float in a state of peaceful drifting bliss. He was barely in his own head and though the floating state was far superior to the agony of torture and angish, far distant on the horizon, James could feel a pull where he was sure Vanessa was calling him. He could almost smell the coconut oil in her lotion paired with plumeria flowers and the warm, inviting tropical breeze. And the moment he tried to move toward her … the crushing heartbreak washed over him again and magnified over and over until once again he was paralyzed in despair. He _knew_ that he wouldn't be able to see her again … wouldn't be able to even say goodbye properly for as long as he lived.

"You will never be allowed to fulfil your purpose in the world if you do not remember that you are being denied that which you want the most by your own failures," Apocalypse's voice said in a dissonant whisper as James' teeth set on edge and he stared off to the horizon line.

The uncomfortable feeling at the back of his head grew more insistent and his hearing rang with the tritone dissonance that echoed the unfairness of everything that had happened … but it wasn't until James' anger and rage started to bubble up in tandem with the bitter sense of injustice that the tone in his ears faded slightly.

If he _focused_ on what was important … he could almost forget that his future and his life had been stolen from him. If he kept his rage just above simmering he could do his _job_. And when he tried to reach for that place where he could sense Vanessa, _everything_ overwhelmed him.

"Do as I command," Apocalypse said as it was clear to him that using this tactic was getting harder and harder to maintain. "And I will reward you."

James looked up at him sharply, _knowing_ that it was a lie … _knowing_ that it would never be enough … _knowing_ that the only real relief was to get the world to a point that Apocalypse was no longer in need of his horsemen. But the moment that thought entered his mind, Apocalypse readjusted his hold on James and dove into his mind more fiercely than before to reinforce everything he'd done to this point.

When the cycle had repeated itself to the point that Apocalypse was worn - not only the psychic torture he was using, but _beatings_ that left James injured enough that his voice ran hoarse from screaming - Apocalypse lifted James by the hair to force him to look into his eyes. "My plans for you are not yet fulfilled. You will bring me your father," Apocalypse said. "But you will not hunt him. You will wait until his guard is down and you will allow him to find you." James' eyes had drifted and Apocalypse took a hold of his head, again razing part of his mind to make him focus. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, master," James finally managed to rasp out, sounding just the right balance of repentant and imploring that Apocalypse wanted.

"Fight him if you must," Apocalypse said. "And if it looks as though he will win - do not let him capture you. Die first."

There was no hesitation as James readily agreed, which seemed to finally be enough to please him, though even that wasn't _easy_ for James as Apocalypse tossed him aside and gestured for the Marauders to drag him off.


	8. There's No Miracle Here

The bamfs took most of the Avengers to a different hideout in Maine, but the X-Men hiding out in Montana were surprised when the small hidden away house suddenly had a few new visitors - a badly injured Tony, a steaming Steve, and every single one of the bamfs, all of them gathered around their fallen comrade, who had been completely opened up and was, quite simply, dead, no matter what the bamfs tried to do to stop it.

K took one look at the state of them and rushed over to Tony to start ripping the armor off. "What the hell did you do now?" she half hissed, frowning deeper at him when he flinched after she popped a claw to cut through the metal. "Knock it off, if I wanted to kill you …"

"James got him," Steve said, still looking furious over how it had all gone down. "All four of them came to the tower."

"How …" she shook her head and looked to the cut marks only to growl deeper. "I want that idiot's head on a _pike_."

"Trust me; you're not alone," Steve promised her, glancing around to see who was around before he spotted Tyler and quickly rushed over to bring him to the badly bleeding Tony.

As soon as she had half of the armor off, she was working to triage - putting pressure on the wounds while Tyler settled in to fix it.

But before Tyler could even get started, one of the bamfs climbed right up into his face and started chattering insistently, gesturing to the dead bamf angrily. It was the most any of them had ever heard the bamfs growling outright, which was what caught Kurt's attention when he teleported over.

He froze when he saw the bamf, his tail still behind him, and Tyler looked honestly apologetic as he tried to get the bamf to settle down.

"I can't - I _can't_ bring back the dead," he said.

"Kurt - can you explain limitations to them, please," K said with an anxious edge to her tone as she kept pressure on Tony's wounds. " _Before_ we have to bury Tony too?"

Kurt blinked for a moment before he quickly nodded and knelt down by the bamfs, gathering the fallen little guy up in his arms as he very softly explained to the bamfs that Tyler was no miracle worker - at least not in that capacity.

"I'm so sorry, my friends," he said as the bamf finally left Tyler alone and climbed practically into his lap. "I have no words."

Tyler frowned but kept his back to the bamfs as the little growls started to turn into more mournful sounds, focusing instead of making sure Tony didn't die on them either, as K did her best to make Tyler's job easier by putting pressure where he wasn't healing.

K didn't interrupt him, but she did glance over to see what was happening with the bamfs and Kurt as all the little guys were somehow climbing onto Kurt, all of them with their ears drooping. "If it comes down to it, you're giving him mouth to mouth," K muttered to Tyler.

"Thanks for the motivation," Tyler muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I will pay you," she added quietly. "Triple whatever your normal rates are. Because you know if I did it, he'd miraculously wake up during a breath. And I would _never_ hear the end of it."

Tyler shook his head at that, though he couldn't help but smirk as he kept working, and finally drew back, worn out but finished, as he leaned back on his arms.

"You're amazing, Tyler," K said in a breath before she popped a claw again to finish removing the armor. "All I need now is to get him settled in somewhere."

"I volunteer Hank," Tyler said tiredly. "I'm just going to lie down for a bit. You're all wearing me out," he said with a small smile.

K turned his way then leaned over to kiss his cheek. "As long as he won't burst open and start bleeding all over me, I'll take care of it myself, Kitten Whiskers. Thanks." She got moving and peeled him out of the armor half shell to lug him toward one of the open rooms. "Don't even think about it, Kurt … you're not up to moving him yet. You're half ready to be carried yourself."

"I should be more insulted, but I find instead, I am simply grateful," Kurt said. "But I can still-"

"No, it's fine. I'd be getting him settled myself anyhow," K promised as she arranged the still-unconscious Tony to move him.

When she got Tony to the room, she let out a breath and managed to figure out how to get his very tall self into the bed - and from there it was bound to be a matter of clean up and just letting him sleep it off. She got his shoes off and had pulled the blanket up to his waist before she headed off to get some things to deal with the bloody clothes only to find that he was awake when she got back. "Don't you dare get up or I'll flatten you myself," K warned, pointing a finger his way.

Tony grinned and raised an eyebrow her way. "Knew it."

"Knew what? That I wanted to flatten you?" she asked as she came over to sit down facing him.

"That you couldn't wait to get me in bed. Alone," Tony said, the grin widening into something more obscene.

"Yeah," she said, nodding slowly, looking entirely relieved, if not amused. "That's what's happening. So take your shirt off already."

That of course just had Tony grinning harder as he pulled the shirt over his head, chuckling to himself the whole time as he tossed the bloodied t-shirt across the room and K wrung out a washcloth intending to help him clean up the blood. "What was it that won you over at last? Couldn't stand to lose me, right? Heat of the mourning moment?"

She couldn't help but smile at that before she whipped the wet washcloth at him, hitting him in the face. "Sure, honey. Pick one. Run with it. And clean yourself up. You're getting blood on my sheets."

He laughed at that and nodded, grimacing when he looked down at himself and caught sight of the amount of blood stuck to him still after the number James had done on him. "Adamantium. Not fun."

She let out a breath and moved closer before she took the cloth back from him and simply started to get what he couldn't _see_. He'd flinched too sharply not to be hurting still - and she wasn't in the mindset to actually let him suffer. "Yeah, that … I'm not happy about that at all."

Tony nodded, then glanced up to watch her expression for a moment, deciding not to run with the line he had ready and waiting about how she had to touch him. When he saw how serious her expression was shifting, he leaned toward her with a small smile. "Hey, did Cap tell you your grandkid stole his shield? Because you should never, never let him forget it."

K reached past him to wring out the washcloth, holding his gaze the whole while - and only then realizing he was taking it easy on her. "Honestly, Tony, when you came in looking like hell warmed over, I kind of ignored Cap for the one that actually needed my attention."

"I knew it. You were overcome with emotion," Tony said, nodding seriously.

"Yeah, you're right. I can't imagine going on without you," she half sang before she finished the worst of the blood clean up then rested one hand on his shoulder and pushed him back. "Now please, rest up."

"Kinda want you to make me."

She let out a little laugh under her breath and set the bloodied washcloth down before she shifted her weight to put a hand on both shoulders and pushed him back until he was flat. "Happy now?"

He grinned at her. "One day," he promised her.

"Until what?" she asked with a smirk. "That's a short timeline for someone as injured as you."

He chuckled at that. "Come back tomorrow and check me over. _Thoroughly_. You might have missed a little blood that needs clean up."

"Sure. Me or Happy…"

"No, no, if you're sending subs, send Pepper, _please_ ," Tony said, though he was laughing by that point.

"I think you have your order reversed, Mr. Stark. I'm sure it's head trauma," K whispered before she gave his wrist a squeeze and pulled the blanket up for him. When he was still smiling at her, she decided to try and force the rest, then headed out to see how things were shaping up with the rest of the house.

She stopped in the doorway when she saw Logan and Kurt sitting together and mobbed by bamfs. The little guys were clearly in states between stunned shock for some and completely inconsolable crying for others, and Kurt for his part still hadn't moved from where he was kneeling with the bamf who had fallen in his lap.

Logan had one in particular that had simply snuggled into a hug, but he was a least one of the more quiet ones - tail still and just melted into place.

Kurt finally looked up when he realized K was leaning in Tony's door and cleared his throat lightly. "We… will need to bury him," he said softly.

"I've got just the place," K said. "Beautiful view, and a great place to sit and drink. When you have the time."

"I'll find you," Kurt promised, turning his attention back to the bamfs, though K's friend teleported over to her to quickly give her a little snuggle… that then turned into a very melty sort of hiccuped cry on her shoulder.

She snuggled him a little closer and kissed the top of his head before she whispered in his ear how sorry she was he'd lost his brother, running one hand through his hair the whole time.

That was the scene for a long time as the others in the hidden hideaway got the rundown from Steve as to what had happened at the Tower - and eventually, Kurt did gather himself enough to ask K to show him the spot she had in mind.

She took him down a little winding path that wasn't too far from the cabin, but when they turned the corner, it opened up to overlook the valley in both directions. "Sunrise or sunset - it's good for both," she promised.

Kurt smiled at that and pulled K into a long, warm hug. "Thank you," he said quietly before he sent a few of the bamfs to get the elflings so that the family could say goodbye in private.

Very few words were spoken between the Wagners as they laid the little guy to rest. Every single one of them looked shaken, though Kurt looked downright wilted, his ears and tail hardly moving from their drooped position. Kate kept one arm around him as soon as he had stepped back from laying the little guy in the ground, partly to support him because he looked so much like he was going to fall over.

Krissy was a mess as well. She was trying her best to wrap Kade up into a hug, because the little guy was all but melting into her. But the truth was that she was already emotional before this attack. The pregnancy as well as the fact that her brand new husband was being controlled by Apocalypse…

Kari had her face buried in Kaleb's shoulder, still in complete disbelief. She simply couldn't wrap her head around James being Death, being responsible for the bamf they had just buried.

None of this should have been happening.

* * *

Like everyone else, Chloe was in shock - but her shock was compounded by a crushing sense of guilt coalescing around her.

She had spent _weeks_ with Sinister. She should have _known_ what was coming.

It didn't matter to her that Sinister had wiped her mind of what she had been working on while Chloe was in her grasp. Chloe had come home with vague impressions that something was brewing, and she could have tried harder. She could have asked Rachel to break open those memories and ignored Rachel's protests that she could in the process expose Chloe to intense trauma from being with Sinister.

Chloe would _gladly_ have put up with whatever consequences came from stopping _this_.

Everyone was a wreck. They had lost too much already, and Apocalypse was still out there using their friends and family to make things _worse_. And Chloe knew - she just _knew_ \- that Sinister had been working on something under Apocalypse's nose. She might not have remembered everything, but now that she had a name for the threat Sinister had been preparing for, she knew, somehow, that Sinister hadn't been working _for_ Apocalypse when she worked with Chloe.

She should have _known_.

She had her knees tucked up underneath her chin, so she didn't see anyone coming, but she could feel it when someone brushed up against her and sat down. She didn't look up - not until she heard her mom's voice.

"Chloe."

That was it. Chloe completely fell apart on her mom's shoulder, sobbing for everything she was worth. And Annie, for her part, didn't know that Chloe was crying with guilt and not with loss - how could she have? - so she simply held on tight and said nothing, letting Chloe deal with her grief in her own way.


	9. The Student Versus The Master

It felt like there were just so many fires to put out. All the time. Several civil wars had broken out across the globe as factions blamed each other for everything going on - only half of it because of the horsemen and the other half because of retaliation. Not to mention the natural disasters - every day, there was another report of entire cities, islands, swaths of whole countries ruined. Massacres, infighting, misdirected retaliation … it was impossible to keep up with.

It really was an "all hands on deck" kind of situation - not just for the heroes who could fight but for anyone who could pitch in. Elin and Chance, for example, had been sort of escorting Chance's cousin, Nadia, to some of the harder-hit communities suffering from natural disasters. Since Nadia could control water, she could help with the floodwaters… even if it wasn't nearly on the same scale as Amadi.

"We're never going to catch up at this rate," Nadia said, wiping her brow as she sat down after sending the floodwaters back in the South Pacific.

"You just have to do the best you can - it's helping, really," Elin said. "You're not juiced up on Apocalypse either. You're doing great."

Nadia gave her a small smile at that. "Thanks," she said. "I just wish there were another hundred of me."

"Hard to do when you're one of a kind," Elin replied.

Chance grinned at her for that one. "Besides," he said, "we'll get the horsemen back, and then it'll just be damage control, instead of playing catch up. Harder when she's still out there." He smiled at Nadia. "Think long game."

"Long game is going to wear me out," Nadia said with a little smirk.

"I'll buy you lunch," Elin offered. "You need a break anyhow - and Storm is heading out to try and deal with things head-on next time Amadi pops up."

"That would be so horrible," Nadia said, pulling a face. "Fighting your daughter. I can't imagine fighting my mom like that."

"Pretty sure it's just a matter of time kind of thing," Elin said, thinking about how she'd overheard her father saying as much - and trying to figure out a way to take James down without doing it permanently.

Nadia nodded, still leaning back, though the quiet was broken when their comms went off at their hips with a distress call - from Peter Parker.

Before she could think more than to share a look with Chance, Scott's voice broke over the airwaves. "What's the story and where are you?"

"The helicarrier is going _down_. I mean down!" Peter's voice said over the comms, obviously panicked. "We're over New Guinea; we're probably going to make landfall, and it's _not_ going to be good."

There was no hesitation. "I've got people incoming, hang tight," Scott said, and even in the background they could hear the pops as the bamfs disappeared.

"Wish we were closer," Elin muttered.

"Not _too_ far out, though," Chance said, glancing her way. "The _Shanghai_ could get us there."

She looked up at him and met his gaze. "Think we can make it before the fight is over?"

"I think if nothing else, we can help any survivors."

Elin nodded and picked up her comm "Chance and I are on our way to assist," she said as she got to her feet and offered Nadia a hand up.

"The _Shanghai_ will keep you safe if the fight is still going on," Chance promised his cousin as they rushed off to the ship. "She'll take you into orbit if she thinks there's no way to avoid the horsemen otherwise."

But Nadia shook her head lightly. "I know plenty of first aid. Two parents in the WHO… I can help."

" _Only_ if the fight's over," Chance said firmly. "You're more valuable to the world right now stopping these floods."

Nadia frowned but nodded nonetheless, and the group of them were relatively quiet, just watching out for the telltale sign of the falling helicarrier as they flew toward New Guinea - though it was so easy to spot the helicarrier when it was in flames and fast losing altitude.

"Head to the ground," Elin said from over his shoulder. "We won't be able to do anything for the helicarrier itself."

Chance frowned but nodded all the same, guiding the _Shanghai_ down to land - though that meant the three of them could only watch from a safe distance as the helicarrier hit the ground, with flames erupting around it.

Before the dust could even settle, Elin started to run toward the wreckage, looking determined, though she did make sure to hit her comm. "We're on the ground; the helicarrier just crashed."

"Get any survivors you can. Logan and Kurt are already there to help," Scott replied. "We've got the director and a few others here already."

"Got it," Elin agreed, though she'd already decided that if there was a way to step in against one of the horsemen, she was going to take a shot.

"Do we know which Horsemen brought it down?" Chance asked.

"Peter says Amadi was there, but he's pretty sure James was the one to disable the engines. Which means you may have two Horsemen on your hands," Scott replied. "So be _careful_."

"Always," Elin said as she made it over the top of the hill where they were close enough to feel the heat of the flames and see up close how much damage had been inflicted. Amadi was high above them, using her powers to direct the flames, feeding them more air with driving winds and pushing the fires higher, louder, and closer to inhabited areas.

"Let me know if you see the other one," Elin said to Chance before she ran right for the flames, intending to pull out anyone she could. She had gotten soaked by the line of rain that stayed frustratingly away from anywhere in flames, but the water was enough to help _her_ when she punched through the line of fire and toward the burning houses.

They'd been fairly lucky that the people in the little town had seen the helicarrier coming - and had heard the warnings from the sirens that usually meant something more natural causing trouble. The end result, however, was that there were very few people still in the houses - and those that were apparently just needed to see someone - _anyone_ braving the flames to get inspired enough to step out of their homes to make a run for it. She did end up putting her arm around an old woman's back to help her get out of the path of destruction, but she wasn't alone. Once they'd left the house, a neighbor came over to help, and in short order, they'd gotten the little old woman to relative safety.

Chance had gone the other way, helping the people beyond the flames who were trying to get _out_. He and Kurt ended up working in tandem to help the few survivors on the helicarrier, cutting people out of the wreckage so Kurt could teleport them away from the disaster area. And even Nadia had, predictably, ignored Chance in favor of calling on the water around them to try to help quell the flames.

"I thought I told you to stay inside," Chance shouted her way.

"You are _not_ the boss of me, little Summers," Nadia shot back with her nose in the air. "Besides, I'm helping."

Chance shook his head at that but shifted what he was doing so that he could keep an eye out - sure that Amadi was going to notice that someone else was messing with nature around them.

And sure enough, it wasn't long before Amadi turned her attention to the waves smashing against the flames and let out a sort of scoffing noise - and it was only Kurt's quick thinking that saved Nadia from a lightning strike.

"Go to the ship," Chance shouted her way, waiting only long enough to see that she was headed for the _Shanghai_ before he shot at Amadi to distract her attention. Storm had said she wanted to take Amadi on, so she was on her way, but in the meantime, Chance wasn't going to let Amadi target his cousin.

* * *

Elin was smoky and singed as she made her way around the damage and toward where the helicarrier was, though she went to a different area than where her father or Kurt was working. Those areas were already covered after all. And it was a good thing she found her own secor. Otherwise, she might have missed it otherwise when she heard someone begging to be left alone, followed shortly by a muted crunch that had her stopped in her tracks a few moments before her brother stepped out of the wreckage in head-to-toe black. She could see clearly in the daylight, though it was saturated with smoke, that the shadows were clinging to him and he had blood splattered across his face. " _James_!" Her tone was shocked and almost breathless. For some reason, she never thought that _she_ would be the one to spot him. Not when he'd been so careful to avoid them all.

He was moving as if no one and nothing could slow him down, and as she watched him, he finally turned her way - and apparently decided she wasn't worth his time. But that wasn't going to work out for Elin. She reached down and picked up half of a brick that was near her feet and took a few steps to whip it at him since he'd turned his back and ignored her when she'd called out to him. There was no way she was going to let him just _leave_ like that. That was her _little brother_. He'd been following her around since he could crawl. He couldn't just … ignore her now.

Not with her aim, anyhow. It wasn't a perfect hit, but she did nail him in the side of the head, and he spun around looking positively furious, though Elin hadn't waited for him to decide to fight. She'd already started running his way once the brick left her hand.

He spun toward her - right into heavy a right hook, but Elin hadn't considered that anyone would have gone so far as to coat his _entire_ skeleton in adamantium as they had been done to her parents. That first hit was hard, and it had set James back, but it also had broken Elin's hand.

He made a dive for her, and she pulled her sword with her off hand, sparring hard with him, though it was an entirely different kind of fight when he hadn't pulled his sword yet and was instead fighting with his claws out. He moved differently than an opponent with a sword, and he attacked differently. In the time it took her hand to knit back together, she hadn't gained an inch and she was very sure he was just toying with her.

She was sure that he'd planned it that way, since as soon as she shifted to her freshly healed hand, he simply cut her sword into four pieces with a swipe of his claws. Elin couldn't think fast enough to know what to do against her _little brother_. She'd never really considered him a threat. Not when they trained together to help each other their whole lives. She stared at him in shock for a heart beat too long as the next swipe went across her leg and left three open gashes.

With a snarl, she spun toward him and sank the remaining bit of sword into his leg in return, but it didn't look like he was too bothered yet. He swung toward her with the claws, and she caught his wrist, using a pressure point to force him into retracting them as she threw a knee into his gut and spun to throw him. But she couldn't dodge the second set of claws in time to make the throw, and he sank them into her back - straight through.

She had to drop his hand just from the sheer pain of it _and_ the fact that she couldn't breathe properly. As soon as he'd pulled the claws out, she turned to face him and reached for him, simply out of old instinct and familiarity, and though he took a hold of her elbow, he quickly stabbed her twice more when she said his name before he let her slide to the ground.

She'd barely hit the ground before there was a sort of strangled cry, and a shot that blew part of James' chest out enough to show shining metal at his bones as Elin stared up at him. But even at that, he didn't outwardly pay Chance any attention when he was so intent on what he was doing.

"He'll be next," James promised Elin as he tossed a small device that stuck to her shoulder and flashed red lights - a miniaturized dampener that would only affect who it was stuck to. "I won't make you wait for him."

James took a step back and pulled the short sword from his belt with a sneer, weighing it in his hands and obviously judging the distance to finish her off - ready to simply remove her head when Logan came barrelling in and flat out tackled him hard, knocking the sword clean out of his hands as he made contact.

James reached for his belt where the controls for his teleporter were, but Logan knew that trick and he wouldn't let James _touch it_. "Quit lettin' him control you," Logan snarled, then twisted to pin James hard to the ground. " _Snap out of it!"_

James realized the pin was good, but he also knew how to fight his father. And he went for the dirty play. "Dad … _please._ " His tone was shaky and clearly anguished … which was the right play to get Logan to drop his guard. And James ran through the opening with everything he had - starting with a potshot that dislodged Logan enough for them to dive back into the fight.

And while the two of them were in an all-out brawl. James was desperate to find a way to take his father down long enough to drag him back to Apocalypse - and Logan was angry with himself for believing the kid was even trying. The snarls echoed the entire area around them. Still, it was clear that James thought he had a shot, because when they finally broke apart, instead of retreating, he took a ready stance, waiting for his father to attack.

"This is one of those times when the challenger has to be the one to attack the master, son," Logan growled out, and a moment later, James did just that, rushing for his father, intent on doing his job.

But after seeing how close he was to finishing off his sister, Logan wasn't going to hold back. Not until the kid was out of the fight.

James fought well, anticipating many of Logan's attacks, but when Logan decided enough was enough, James simply couldn't land a hit, and he couldn't avoid Logan's strikes. Logan hammered him to the point that before long, James stumbled backward, blindly grasping for support until he quickly hit the device that opened up his portal and slipped out before Logan could finish the fight.

"I lost him," Logan growled out. "Put him on the run."

Not far from there, Chance had run right to where Elin had fallen to simply scoop her up and away from the fight so that there was no danger of her getting caught up in the fight between her father and brother. He clutched her to him tightly until he had run far enough that the snarls sounded farther away and then set her down gently to assess her better. As soon as he saw the little device on her shoulder, he tore it off of her, praying and muttering to himself as he willed her to _heal_.

His suit was soaked with her blood from where he'd carried her, and he was panicking as he looked over the damage that had been done. He'd taken her into the space that was getting rained on, rather than the fire damage, and while that was the better choice so they didn't get burned, it made it hard to tell whether she was healing or whether the rain was washing the blood away.

"C'mon, El," he muttered to her, his heart pounding in his ears. "You can't leave _me_ either."

"I'm not," she said weakly, covering his hand with hers.

Chance let his shoulders drop with relief and pulled her into a hug with her head underneath his chin. "You scared the hell out of me," he told her. "He was about to take your head off, El."

"Where is he?"

Chance shook his head lightly. "I think your dad ran him off."

"Oh, I'm gonna kick the crap out of him," she muttered. "I broke my hand on him."

"I thought he just had metal claws?" Chance said, surprised, pulling back to look at her more closely. The rain had stopped by then, likely because James had taken Amadi back with him if they were retreating, so he could see her expression better.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "That was like punching a brick wall."

Chance pulled her into another hug and kissed her forehead. "So he cheated. We'll get him back and put it right."

"You'll keep the hell away from him, both of you," Logan barked out as he came over the ridge toward them.

"He was gonna kill her," Chance said, pulling Elin a little bit tighter without even thinking about it.

"Yeah, I noticed," Logan growled out, watching the two of them for a long moment. "Leave him to me. I don't want _anyone_ getting close to him. _You_ take care of her, Summers. It's your _job_." Logan was tense and keyed up … he was pretty sure that James was trying to pull something, but he didn't know for sure what that was yet. And he wasn't going to share his suspicions until he knew for sure.


	10. It's A Trap!

In addition to all of the fires being put out physically around the world, it felt like the chaos was only compounding with the ongoing cyber attacks globally. Entire security networks were compromised, including things like missile systems, security archives, you name it.

It had Tony fuming, because it was a version of his own _personal_ codes being used - to the point that his armor was compromised. Even if he trusted his suits to get in them, which he didn't, they wouldn't fly for him, and he was still steaming about it as he all but paced behind Kitty at the computer.

"Every one of these codes ... " Tony was saying, though it was clear he couldn't get through an entire sentence. "He still managed to break through the patch. Of course he did." He pointed at the screen, one hand on his hip still. "I had to put in a new patch behind that one to disable everything I have. At least the Stark tech won't blow up in our faces." He paused in his pacing. "For now. Wouldn't put it past him to try to … _weasel_ his way in anyhow."

"I could take a look," Noh offered - which, really, was a mark of how bad things were getting, since he _never_ offered to help with Tony's tech.

Tony gestured wordlessly to the screen. "Be my guest. I kinda want to wring his little neck right now."

"You'd break something trying," Quill pointed out from where he was sitting with a hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Shut up - my wife's working while you complain."

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and took a step back. "Not … really my intention - on any count. I just ... " He let out a breath and took a moment to weigh it out. "I need coffee. Anyone else?"

"Couldn't hurt," Kitty muttered out of the corner of her mouth. She was still trying to trace back the origin of the codes. "Might just be the edge I need. I'm _close_. I can feel it."

Without another word, Tony strode out of the room, since he honestly was more frustrated than he could remember being - and he wasn't used to feeling so … helpless. "I'm never taking on another intern again," he said under his breath on the way out.

Kitty shook her head to herself as she kept on working, though before Tony had even gotten back with the coffee, the code she was working finally came up with a location, and she leaned back in her seat, frowning at the screen.

"That," she said slowly, "was too easy."

"It took you _hours_ to get there," Peter said. "Are you sure 'easy' is the word you're looking for?"

Kitty nodded, still frowning at the screen as she poked the pin on the map with one finger. "It took me hours to even pick up the _thread_. It should have taken me, what, maybe the rest of the day at _least_ to even get a ballpark figure on location." She shook her head. "It's like the code was waiting for someone talented enough to get in."

"Then it's a trap," Noh said, leaning over her shoulder to look at the code with a frown of his own.

Kitty nodded, though she set back to work at the computer with an even more determined look - and by the time Tony came back with coffee, there were seven different locations on the screen. And most of them were in places that would put them at risk just by showing up - active warzones or places that had been devastated by Amadi's storms…

"So," Peter said, leaning into Kitty a bit as he looked over the locations. "We know it's a trap. They know we know it's a trap. Question is: which trap do we want to walk into?"

"Egypt," Kitty said with a decisive sort of nod. "If he's strutting around, he'd go home."

"We should still make the others aware of the other locations," Noh suggested. "All of them are likely traps, but if even one team can find where the Horsemen are… get even one of them back…" He paused and turned to Kitty. "Which one would be most likely to be my son's territory?" he asked, almost openly.

"Whichever one _isn't_ in the middle of a warzone. Yet," Tony said. "High tensions … political misery, sure … but it would probably be on the brink of war. That's the one you want."

"Taiwan," Kitty said, tapping the screen. "Tensions were high there even before this mess. It's just _waiting_ for a reason to tip into chaos, really."

"If it helps, I've got a stasis generator at the house in Malibu," Tony said. "Probably bulkier than you're used to, but it's offline."

Noh nodded and put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "And I have a few weapons you can use," he told him. "Let's go."

"I thought we were doing the Egypt thing," Peter said in an undertone to Kitty. "Or is that just you and me now? Date to the end of the world kind of thing…"

Noh paused when he heard it and looked toward the other two, clearly weighing it out in his mind. "We deal with Apocalypse first," he said at last, though he looked like he'd rather not do it when he wanted to help his son. "All of us - you two shouldn't go alone."

"We'll bring one of the little demons along for escape purposes," Peter said.

"I'll tell my Jubilee about the other locations," Noh said. "If any of these traps yields a Horseman, we have to spring them."

With that decided, the group of heroes quickly packed up in the _Milano_ to head for Egypt, every one of them on edge, since they were sure they were expected. Even Lockheed seemed agitated, curled around Kitty's shoulders and puffing smoke for pretty much the whole flight.

They were nearly to the coordinates when there was a high-pitched whine an instant before a black explosion shook the whole ship, sending them into a tight spin that Quill was barely able to control before they plowed into the ground.

The group of them barely had the time to reorient themselves before there was a scraping sound outside the hull, and part of the _Milano_ peeled back to reveal Sying with his head tipped to the side as he took in the scene. Most of the people in the craft had been knocked silly - and there were definitely bumps and bruises to go around - but there were no fatalities.

"Well, that's disappointing," Sying said as he started to build another plasmoid, much bigger this time, though he didn't get to finish building it when Noh simply tackled him with a hard hit. The plasmoid left his hands only half-finished - but still big enough to do some real damage as the other heroes ducked and covered to shield themselves from the blast.

The two Kree fighters hit the ground in a wrestling match that was too fast to follow until Sying finally managed to get Noh pinned underneath him solidly, twisting and holding on tight to try and keep Noh from getting out of it.

"You are better than this, Sying," Noh told him sharply. "You're a _Kree_ , not some lackey to a would-be god."

"I _am_ better," Sying said with a triumphant sort of look, black sparks still falling from his hands and leaving circular burns where he was holding onto Noh. "You've forgotten what it means to be Kree. I've repaid every insult and made sure this planet will pay for what it did to me." He tipped his chin up. "Only the strong survive - and you're weak. You've gone soft."

Noh narrowed his eyes at that and then shook his head. "I did try to talk to you," he said before he twisted just enough to leave a nail in Sying's side, and the resulting explosion blew them both away from each other.

Noh winced as he pushed himself back up to his feet, but Sying didn't look like he'd broken his stride as he headed right for Noh, his teeth bared and low hiss dripping off his lips.

For an instant, Noh froze when he saw that Sying hardly looked damaged at all, then let his shoulders drop as he finally went into a white run. He had hoped to talk to Sying, but clearly, that wasn't going to work. And if he had to drag the boy home to _make_ him see sense, then he would do that too.

He dove for Sying, driving his nails into his chest deeply, though Sying let out a cry and simply returned the favor from earlier, blowing a plasmoid into Noh's face that knocked him backward and nearly broke his concentration entirely.

They rushed at each other faster than anyone else could keep up, hitting hard and holding nothing back, until at last, Sying managed to hit below Noh's defenses, breaking several ribs in the process, and simply left his hand there, just beneath his dad's ribs, with a sort of manic grin as Noh could suddenly feel the heat building up in his own body. He didn't dare move, not when he couldn't heal from being melted or blown to bits from the _inside_.

"I'm trying to decide," Sying said, his grin widening with every word, "how much to leave behind to show my master."

Noh was in clear shock by then, sinking slowly to the ground and holding onto Sying as he did so, but before Sying could let loose the plasmoid he was building up, Kitty finally made it over in a rush to stop him, phasing her own hand through Sying's chest in a clear threat.

"Drop him," she ordered.

Sying froze for a long moment, furious at the interference, before he finally removed his hand and let Noh fall to the ground unconscious - but not without releasing the plasmoid anyway. It didn't blow Noh to hits, but it did leave him smoking and bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as well as from the hole in his chest.

Kitty took a hold of Noh and air walked him out of Sying's reach up to the top of a nearby building, and gently let Noh down to rest nearby as she peeked over the ledge at where the angry young man was glaring up at her and holding his chest. She let out a sigh. "We can get you back to the others now I think … Peter is bringing the ship around already," Kitty said as she turned, but then stopped in her tracks, frozen to the spot when she saw the hulking blue -skinned creep on the other side of the roof.

She hardened her glare and took a ready stance, fists up and more than happy to fight. "I want my little brother and my nephew back," Kitty growled out. "You know you won't be able to keep them."

He scoffed openly at her. "What makes you foolishly think that you could ever stop me from what I desire?" he strode forward slowly and Kitty did her level best to keep from bolting or phasing too soon. "Born with the gene, but your only power is to run or hide." His eyes were glowing brighter the closer he got to her.

As he walked forward, Sying scaled the side of the building as well to fall into step with him, his eyes glittering as he looked toward Kitty and Noh and clearly itching to finish the fight, playing with a plasmoid in between his fingers.

"You have no right to make demands of gods. You will take nothing and no one with you. They, like everything else, will simply slip through your fingers."

As he spoke, he took a hold of her arm and Kitty very suddenly felt everything going lighter and lighter until Apocalypse's fist closed in thin air and she realized she was intangible. Only she hadn't phased.

Kitty's eyes were wide, and it was clear that she was panicking as Apocalypse stepped back from her with a smirk, with Sying almost bouncing on his heels waiting for the slight tip of his head that meant he could burst forward, darting around Kitty to where Noh was, drawing his hand back with a malicious kind of smile-

And then he froze.

A panting Peter Quill pulled himself over the roof with a stasis field to stop Sying, though when he saw Kitty's wide-eyed expression, he quickly changed gears from a fight to instead grab Noh. "Just jump," he called over to Kitty, all but tumbling over himself with Noh to where Tony had managed to get the badly injured _Milano_ in the air.

"Come on," Tony shouted with the bay door open. "That thing isn't going to hold forever - especially with the big … evil guy headed toward it."

Peter tried to find a way to get to Kitty, but she was already shaking her head. "Get Noh."

He adjusted Noh as he jerked his head for her to follow him. "Okay, just… just jump," he told her. "We'll come back to this."

She swallowed hard and concentrated on walking up the air, which was a lot harder to do when she was panicking. "On my way," Kitty said, though she didn't drop the wide-eyed expression in the least.

Once Peter had jumped into the _Milano_ , he set Noh down and slipped over to take over for Tony. "I got it, thanks," he said, glancing up to where Kitty was. "C'mon, babe."

She carefully floated toward him and nodded her head. "Okay, let's … lets just get out of here. We fixed this once before …"

He nodded and reached over to give her shoulder a squeeze - or try to at least - before he turned his attention back to flying them out - and fast.

"I'm texting Richards right now," Tony said. "He'll have things ready and waiting for you when we get to New York."

"Better keep an eye on that one too," Peter said, tipping his head Noh's way.

"Right," Tony said as he sent the last text to Scott and then turned to look around the ship. "What … does one do for an injured Kree fighter? Exactly."

"Mostly just try to keep him from bleeding to death," Peter said. "Most Kree are more or less… basic first aid. With him it's more basic first aid while the healing thing kicks in, I guess."

"On it," Tony said with a nod, jogging over to where the medical supplies were. "You're in reasonably competent hands," Tony told Noh, trying not to tease too hard.

Noh was still pretty out of it but managed a dry look his way. "At least send Jubilee flowers," he muttered out.

Tony gave him an open mouthed look of disbelief. "Give me a little credit here," he said, shaking his head. "You're not bleeding anymore."

"Yes, I do appreciate that," Noh said, leaning back and closing his eyes again as Peter poured on the speed to get them back to where they needed to be.

* * *

When Scott got the call that Kitty's team was coming in - and that the _Milano_ was badly damaged, he swore under his breath. They knew where Apocalypse was, at least, but Kitty had been right - Apocalypse was waiting for them.

"Next time we show up, I wouldn't be surprised if he had all four of them," he muttered under his breath as he pushed both hands through his hair, glaring down. The reports were coming in from a few others locations - Leslie Ann had been in Hawaii and did a solid number on Dani, nearly draining her dry… Amadi had turned and run from Storm… they couldn't find James yet at any of the locations, but there were traps laid at all seven.

"He knows we'll try to take the fight to him…" Scott said under his breath, then shook his head. "We need to regroup..."

Logan was quiet for only a short while before he simply got up and headed out of the room, snatching the keys to the mini jet on the way out. He wasn't taking anyone with him - and there were things that had to be done before they could head out to fight, and Logan was sure he had his own preparations that were going to be needed. He did stop to give K a quick kiss, but even then - he didn't say a word on his way out of the door and she didn't ask him where he was headed. Not when they'd already discussed what might need doing.

No one knew precisely what he was up to, or where he was going when the mini jet took off, but everyone at the cabin noticed. And Logan wasn't surprised in the least when the call came through on the comm.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked, his tone betraying his irritation and stress levels.

"Don't worry about it," Logan replied firmly. "I'm not going anywhere without you. Just have something I need to do before we head out. Won't be long."

"We need to regroup and make our push now that we know where he's hiding out," Scott insisted.

"Gather them up and plan your attack, I'll follow your lead," Logan said in an even tone. "But you don't need me to _plan_."

"What are you doing anyway?"

"See you in a little while." After that, Logan simply refused to answer, leaving Scott swearing to himself.

* * *

Apocalypse found himself watching as the world began to come apart at long last. His horsemen were doing their jobs well enough - though he was not expecting for anyone to disagree with him on the matter. With terror and misery growing exponentially around the world - and the so called heroes all in hiding or dead, he expected to step into his throne soon enough.

Of course, with victory close at hand, Apocalypse wasn't willing to forgive missteps like War's hesitation when he fought his father or his failure to finish the job with the team that had come with Shadowcat. Apocalypse had seen his horseman's failure for himself, and he wasn't pleased. He had already dealt with Death's failure in the same manner, but now he was confident that _that_ young man wouldn't be stepping out of his mind to think about anything again.

As soon as he and War had returned to their stronghold, he chose not to give the boy a warning before he dove into the young Kree's mind, sending him to his knees with the force of his displeasure.

"You allowed them to humiliate you." Apocalypse's voice boomed in Sying's ears.

"The stasis-" Sying started to say, but Apocalypse waved him off.

"You knew about those countermeasures. You're faster than Starlord, and I made you more powerful than your father." He shook his head, and Sying cried out as Apocalypse sent another wave of pain through him until he was curled in a tight ball. "There is no reason you should have been bested." Sying was shaking as Apocalypse watched him, his eyes narrowed. He knew how _eager_ Sying could be to do better; he only had to pull the right strings. Especially since he was in the young man's mind and could hear Sying already internalizing Apocalypse's accusations.

"Perhaps you're _not_ any better than Deathbird was," Apocalypse said.

Sying's head came up fast, even though he was still hurting. "No," he breathed out.

Apocalypse smirked. "Your Kree blood stopped you today. You gave deference to your father-"

"No," Sying interrupted him, which only prompted another wave of psychic fire. Then, when he got his breath back, he whispered, "It won't happen again."

"They're not ready," Essex said lazily. "They could hardly stop the Avengers from making fools of them, let alone the combined might of the many teams."

"They were punished for their hesitation," Apocalypse replied in an even tone. "Corrections have been made."

"Even the little group of the Guardian, the alien, and the X-Man were able to stop your Horseman of War," Essex pointed out.

Sying let out a low hiss Essex's way. "They won't be so lucky next time," he swore, pushing himself to his feet with shaking arms.

Apocalypse turned Essex's way slowly. "Do you believe there to be a better replacement for any one of them? Bring me Death - and then tell me who it is that you failed to choose properly."

Essex narrowed her eyes for a moment before she let out a little noise and then turned to find James, leading him back to the rest of the Horsemen as they were preparing for the impending fight with the world's heroes.

"Sinister believes that one or more of you simply is not prepared for the fight to come," Apocalypse said, getting all four of his horsemen to turn and glare Essex's way, though James was closest and barely had to turn his head.

Sinister tipped her chin up. "You want to eradicate the X-Men and the Avengers at once. And from where I stand, you only have a few measly second-string fatalies behind you."

"What makes you an expert on either?" James asked, glaring openly his way.

"Decades of research."

"Decades of research on one family line or another when you should have been doing your job," James shot back. "How hard were you scouring the earth if every one of your suggestions came from the X-Men?"

Essex glared back at him. "I know the strongest potential when I see it - and I study it."

"You get transfixed on one line or another," James growled out. "Poor scientific method if you keep your field so narrow."

"I have always studied alpha-level powers," Essex returned.

"Studied them because you're not capable of possessing them yourself."

"Oh?" Essex raised an eyebrow. "And the powers I have now are so trite?"

"I can think of half a dozen _mutants_ that are smarter and more efficient."

Essex glared at him. "You try to insult me, but when I prove every assertion wrong, you simply find some new accusation."

"You're the one who said that _one of us_ wasn't ready even though you were the one to pick all of us," James shot back. "Who is it you're having second thoughts over?"

"I chose you all for your power and _potential_ ," Sinister snapped. "Don't mistake that to mean you automatically have your full strength when you're still learning your station."

James smirked and took a step closer. "Is that the same station that you had me at when you wanted to keep me as a pet - for yourself?"

Sinister matched James' smirk, but missed Apocalypse's glare. "Yes," she said evenly. "The only difference now is who is holding the leash."

"And by my measure, you're lower on the food chain. Still. Yet, you'd have kept me for one of your Marauders."

Essex leveled a finger James' way. "You are nothing more than a beast. An attack dog whose only usefulness is to kill for your master."

"A genetically _superior_ beast," James hissed out, inches from her face. "One who is far smarter than you."

Essex glared his way with her lips pulled back. "I see your work has already driven you mad."

James let out a low growl and backhanded her hard, knocking her off her feet as he towered over her. "Not worth my time."

"I could always drain her to the brink," Leslie Ann said with a spark to her gaze. "And let her heal… and do it again…"

"No," James said as he turned away from Sinister and strode over to his place at Apocalypse's side.

"You never know," Leslie Ann said thoughtfully. "The brief taste I had of K was energizing…"

"Essex is nothing like her," James said, arms crossed.

Leslie Ann smirked his way and nodded. "Yes, but a warm-up snack will hardly slow me down. And I'm so hungry."

"Her fate isn't ours to decide," James said low to her. "Let it go."

Leslie Ann let her shoulders drop with a sigh but turned her attention back to the thorns and vines threading through her fingers at her gloves. "Fine."

Apocalypse looked livid … quiet and glaring, though it wasn't immediately clear who it was that he was angry at. He didn't need the bickering, but the boy's words had only confirmed what Apocalypse had long suspected.

"You have had decades to fulfil the task you _offered_ to accept as your burden," Apocalypse said, clearly to Sinister. " _Death_ has been proven truthful by virtue of who here stands before me."

"You asked for power; I gave you power," Essex insisted.

" _You_ asked for power, I already possessed it."

Essex's eyes narrowed. "Your impatience will be your undoing. Don't blame me when I'm proven right."

"Insolent. Ungrateful." Apocalypse was striding forward, his voice echoing in the flat room more and more with each syllable. "You think yourself more than _me_? When I _alone_ gave you the key to your own continued existence? You have gone well beyond that which I _gifted_ to your research. You have overreached and inflated your own value."

Essex, for her part, had drawn herself up, the red glow brighter in her gaze as she met Apocalypse's. "I have made myself better than you _wished_. You cannot stop my studies or my progression."

"Pride will be your downfall," Apocalypse replied low. "But your station … your _place_ was never any higher than the Marauders that I gave to assist you."

"The fact that you gave them as servants suggests otherwise," Essex said. "Infallible judgement - are you saying _you_ chose unwisely when you came to _me_?"

"I'm saying that you are a pawn that fancies themself into a position of power. Over the years you have abandoned your task to raise yourself up before all else, and that will end _now_."

All at once, the light in her diamond went much brighter and Sinister was unable to move as Apocalypse approached. As he had done with the others, he took her head between his hands and in moments, the woman was writhing.

The Four Horsemen watched as Sinister fell first to her knees and then to all fours in clear agony. They were silent for some time until the screams gave way to quiet almost whimpers at last.

"You will come should I call for you again, _Sinister_ ," Apocalypse said, still glaring down at her. "Unless you think that you can take Death without the aid of the Marauders."

Sinister was quiet for a moment before she glanced toward James to find a hungry, focused look in his eyes at the prospect of being allowed to kill her, at which point, she simply nodded in response.

James hadn't moved a muscle during the entire debacle, but when Sinister looked up toward the four of them, he finally couldn't help but smirk to himself.

Apocalypse turned his attention from the fallen woman to his Horsemen. "It is time," he told them. "We will destroy those that stand in our way. Do not disappoint me."


	11. In The Shadow Of Shadowcat

By the time the _Milano_ arrived in Montana, Hank was already pacing and worried about the increasingly frantic reports that Peter Quill was making on Kitty's state. Tony had already contacted Reed Richards about the matter, but from what Hank could hear, Peter was already convinced his wife was going to drop out of the bottom of his ship while he was still flying it.

Peter didn't bother to make a slow landing, rushing into it and screeching the ship to a stop before he spun around to face an increasingly wide-eyed Kitty. "Come on, Kitty," he said, scrambling over to where she was as he tentatively put a hand out, though he looked even more worried when his hand passed right through her shoulder.

Reed Richards had brought the isolation chamber that they'd used once before to help Kitty find her way back to tangibility, and he and Hank were rushing to set it up, not quite done by the time that the _Milano_ had arrived. But that just gave Scott a chance to get the rundown on what exactly had happened while Kate helped Tony get Noh out of the ship and set up with some of Hank's wonder drugs to facilitate the healing.

Not that Peter was exactly the best for debriefing when he was clearly in a state of near-terror. "She got Noh out - he put his _hand through her_ \- you gotta fix - I've never seen her like this!"

"It feels different this time," Kitty said, though her voice had almost an echoing quality to it that had her looking surprised at herself. "Something is very wrong and I don't think it's focus. I've been trying to meditate all the way here."

Scott wasn't hiding the obviously concerned look at all as he heard the way Kitty's voice sounded and listened to the explanation. "We'll figure it out," he promised. "If it's physical, it can be reversed. And if it's not - I'll have Rachel burn out whatever is blocking you, but we _will_ figure this out."

Kitty nodded, still wide-eyed, as she followed Scott to where Hank and Reed had finally set up the chamber. She barely looked back as she stepped inside, her arms wrapped around herself at the elbows as she tried to meditate, to focus, but like she'd said - this was different. She couldn't keep herself together like she _knew_ she should be able to.

"If you can get her solid for half a second, I can turn it off," Tyler offered, though Hank was already shaking his head.

"That's not a permanent solution," he said.

"It might help."

Hank looked toward Tyler for a moment and then nodded. "She's shorted out our inhibitor field, and according to Mr. Stark, a collar as well."

"I helped Billy; let me try it."

Hank nodded at last and looked toward Kitty. "If we can keep her solid…" he said, then let the thought drop when he saw the look on Kitty's face. "Not to worry, my dear," he told her with a small smile. "We'll have you returned to your usual vigor in no time."

Logan wasn't too far behind Kitty and Quill when he returned to the hidden cabin. He had kept to his word, and had been sure to only take a few hours to get done what he needed to do, and even though he'd been quick, he had dirt on his jeans and his hands were obviously filthy from digging … somewhere. But the long paper wrapped package he held in one hand was almost pristine. K met him outside and looked anxious as she filled him in on everything he'd missed. But mostly on how Kitty wasn't right, and how Reed Richards had brought in special equipment … and how Kitty was in a pure, restrained panic.

He paused when he heard it - open shock showing clearly before he handed her the package and headed off at a run to where the lab was set up. He made his way over to the chamber and let out a breath. "How long have you been in this thing, Punkin'?"

Kitty couldn't help but smile when she saw him, relieved that he was there. "Not too long - maybe twenty minutes," she said, though he didn't miss the fact that her voice was echoing still in the chamber - even moreso than it had been when she had talked to Scott.

Logan frowned and kept eye contact with her as he simply pulled up a chair to sit with her. "You know how this works. You've got me. I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded and moved to lean against the wall of the chamber to talk to him, though instead of leaning on it like she'd been able to do the last time she was intangible, she simply passed right through it with a little squeak, nearly colliding with his hand as she scrambled to stay in the room before she sunk through the floor.

He looked as shocked at the phase as he had the first time that she did it around him - and he absolutely couldn't hide it. " _Punkin'_." It came out as a breath, and if there had been any kind of measure of how bad it was - it was the simple fact that Logan had lost his handle on his usual even tone.

It was enough to get everyone around them panicking as Hank and Reed rushed forward to try and figure out what had gone wrong with the chamber - though Peter had simply frozen to the spot for a moment, looking like he'd been hit as soon as Logan had spoken. "Oh god," Peter said quietly at last with one hand over his mouth.

It didn't help that Logan's first reaction _wasn't_ to snap at Hank and Richards either, instead, openly staring at Kitty, keeping his focus where it was needed. "We gotta anchor you somehow," he said quietly, and it was clear that only those closest to them had heard it.

"Rachel's on her way," Scott said in barely a whisper. "The inhibitor field … shorted out already. Just like the collars did for Billy."

Logan nodded, but couldn't tear his gaze from Kitty. "Tell her what's happening. Send a bamf if you have to." He held his hand out, palm up, more as a gesture than anything and Kitty held her hand over his - though it was clear there was no way she'd be able to touch him the way this was going.

"Get a hold of Ilyana," Logan added when Scott turned to make the calls. "She might be able to help."

There was a familiar _bamf_ as Rachel arrived and rushed over to where the two of them were, clearly upset as she took in the scene, but she didn't hesitate to simply put a hand on Logan's shoulder and one almost on Kitty's. "What do you need - _who_ do you need?" she asked both of them, correcting herself halfway through. "I'll pull them in."

Logan just held Kitty's gaze as she answered Rachel. "I can't concentrate enough to try to un-phase. Maybe … maybe we can do a guided meditation ... " she finally broke her eye contact to glance over at Peter. "And … bring Peter in too … if you can, that is."

"Done," Rachel promised, already pulling all three of them in with her, and halfway pushing Peter to break the glaze to his gaze to come back, no matter how freaked out he was.

It took Logan a moment to center himself, hating the fact that he had to close his eyes to do it, but Rachels' hand in his helped remind him what he needed to do. Once he forced himself to push all of it back - all the worry and the absolute fear of what was going on - he found his way through all of it and started to breathe a lot deeper and slower. "Follow me, Kitten," Logan rumbled low and soft. "And whatever it is you need to focus on … do it once you calm down."

Kitty took a deep breath as she followed Logan's calm, though she was having a hard time calming down knowing what was happening to her. Eventually, she was able to find a center, and to Rachel, it seemed like she was headed right for that calm middle ground… until when she got there, the image of the X-Men, or the team that she had been on when she was thirteen, was transparent, and losing its color, like a picture bleeding into the water.

"We're all still here, Punkin'," Logan said when he saw what was going on. "Focus on Peter and Jayce."

"Think - think about Nina," Peter said in a quavering voice, trying to help but clearly on the verge of panic himself. "And how she cut Jayce's bangs with a pair of scissors last month…"

"She gets that from you," said a new voice as Ilyanna arrived. "Come on, Kitty… you can't leave us now."

Logan gave Kitty an encouraging sort of smirk. "You're tougher than you give yourself credit for. You can beat this, sweetheart."

The mental landscape shifted as Kitty tried to concentrate, and for a moment, they could all see the day Jayce was born - complete with the broken-handed Peter as he tried to hug Kitty with one hand. But even that image was bleeding color, going transparent like Kitty was as she whispered, "I'm trying."

"Just like Ogun, Kitten," Logan said. "I know you can do this."

Those in the meditation with her could see the memory as Kitty focused on that, smiling to herself as she thought of how proud she was.

Encouraged, Peter joined in with a quiet, "You're stronger than anyone, Kitty. Come on, babe - prove me right."

"No one here wants to lose their favorite X-Man, Kitten," Logan added with Peter nodding in surprised agreement.

"I'm _trying_ ," Kitty said, her tone somewhere between frustrated and panicked, though in spite of her efforts, even her mental voice was starting to echo as she lost her calm center.

"Kitty, you need to focus," Rachel said. "Calm down."

The entire gathered group felt it as Kitty tried to level out - and then they also felt the sudden spike of pure terror in Kitty's mind before they lost the connection.

They had hardly even opened their eyes before Peter started to freak out when he saw that Kitty was gone. " _Kitty_!" he almost screamed, reaching out for the space where she had been like he could find a piece of her. "No, no, no, no - come back. _Please_."

Logan blinked for a moment once the connection broke and he took a few stumbling steps back, already openly crying, though he couldn't even begin to string two words together for the life of him, completely numb.

Ilyanna let out a sort of shaky sob before she simply started to cry, though she didn't have anything to say either - not that anyone could have been heard over the sound of Peter continuing to lose it.

"Please, Kitty," Peter was almost begging, still nearly screaming as he repeated her name, still grasping at the ground and air.

When it was clear that Peter couldn't even begin to pull it together, Logan took a hold of his shoulder and pulled him over, trying to get him to breathe, though still, no words as he went with the younger man to the ground and Peter finally stopped yelling for Kitty and instead started to sob, shoulders shaking and not even bothering to try and hold himself up.

"We need Kurt," Logan finally choked out.

"I'll… get him," Rachel said, clearly shaken and staring for a moment before she blinked back her concentration and called out telepathically for Kurt, who arrived a few moments later in a poof of blue, looking concerned at the tenor of Rachel's call, though he couldn't have possibly expected to see the scene in front of him.

"What…" Kurt stopped outright as he stared at Logan since he was the only thing keeping Peter from simply melting onto the floor in a heap.

Logan just shook his head, clearly still not anywhere near pulled together himself yet, but it was clear from how upset he was and who was missing that things had gone horribly wrong.

Kurt looked like it almost hadn't registered for a moment as he stared at Logan in pure disbelief. But the fact that his best friend was crying… the way Peter was crumpled… the fact that Ilyanna was buried deeply in Hank's fur and crying… " _Mein Gott_ ," he whispered, taking a step forward and meaning to put a hand on Logan's shoulder - though he didn't quite make the full distance before he sank to his knees.

Several of the bamfs rushed to comfort their big brother, though it was clear they too, were shaken up by the whole thing. But they did make way when Lockheed flew over to settle into Kurt's lap and let out a mournful sort of noise before tucking into him as well.

Scott had headed for the door, but he didn't entirely make it out of the room before he covered his face with one hand and ended up simply sitting down with his back to the wall and his head in his hands. He was a lot quieter than the others, but his shoulders were shaking, and it was clear he had fallen to pieces as well.

And for a while, it stayed that way, with no one moving as everyone tried to _process_ it.

As the silence in the cottage deepened, K came to find out what had gone wrong since it was apparent that something had gone terribly south since there wasn't a sound escaping the room that wasn't mournful and every tic of industry had come to a pause as well. She stepped in and watched the scene for a moment before she glared at the chamber where the two scientists were just … standing there. She stepped around Scott carefully and met the gaze of one of the bamfs.

"You need to take all of them to the kids. Just to recenter," she told him quietly. "I'll check on them in a little while, but they need to breathe."

The little guy blinked at her for a moment before he quickly nodded, though he tipped his head to the side and chattered out a question, gesturing to her.

"I'm okay, I'll keep watch. But Logan, Peter, Kurt, and Scott need to go. Now," K said. "We'll get the work done while they pull it together. But they need distance from this place."

The bamf nodded at that and quickly teleported off, grabbing a couple of his friends to simply grab anyone that was crying and _go_.

K took a moment to scan the room, doing her best to keep her composure at seeing Kitty gone and so many of their best _gutted_ at the loss. She stared for a moment at the spot she'd last seen Kitty, bitterly angry at the fact that out of _everyone_ , it was _Kitty_ that had been taken. But while they were mourning, Apocalypse was still trashing things, and she had too many kids missing to deal with all the loss right then. She'd do her mourning _later_ , when she could. "Hank," K said, then cleared her throat. "We gotta keep going while they breathe. If you need a break, go ahead an take it."

Hank looked up at K for a moment and seemed to gather himself in a breath before he quickly nodded and put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose after he had wiped the fur there. "Yes," he said, nodding once more. "I think I may take a break." He was marginally more pulled together than those that had left, but aware enough to know he needed to breathe as well. "I believe Noh and Tony were discussing a possible way to deal with at least one horseman, if you'd like to join them."

K nodded and let out a breath as she took the handful of steps over to where Tony was working. "Back to work," she said over his shoulder.

Tony glanced down at her, nodded, and simply led the way wordlessly to where he knew the _Marvel_ was still hidden away, not saying anything until they were nearly there before he paused and looked her way. "You alright?"

"Fine."

"How opposed are you to a hostile takeover of your grandson from the inside?" he asked in almost a wince.

"As long as it doesn't kill him, I'm in favor," she said with a hard look in her eyes. "He'll heal otherwise."

Tony raised an eyebrow at that answer but then tipped his head to the ship, raising his hand to knock to be let in, since the _Marvel_ still didn't like him much. "Well," he said slowly, "we think James upgraded Sying's nanites. And if that's the case… Noh's already working on finding a way in."

K nodded at that. "No thoughts on the others yet?"

"Well, Thor's more than happy to take Leslie Ann down," Tony said. "We already know she can't deal with him at all. It's just a matter of finding her and getting Thor there before she scampers off - she's a little risk-averse when it comes to the big guy."

"I might have an idea on that," she said. "Just tell him to be ready to roll with it." She looked up at Tony and forced a smirk. "Until Scott's back in the drivers seat, it's gonna work a little more … rough, I'm sure. But I've got thoughts that'll help Thor either way."

"Well, hey, we'll set up a meeting of the Viking minds and let you two run with it," Tony said. "Long as it works, I'm not opposed." As he spoke, the _Marvel_ finally opened up and let them in, with Noh looking still fairly battered at the door and surprised to see K.

"Good," she agreed, climbing into the ship to take Noh's hand. "Sweet sparkly pants … you need to eat more. Obviously."

"I've been eating as I work," he promised her as he led her back further into the ship. "How are the others? The _Marvel_ was sputtering…" He let out a breath. "I know it didn't go well."

"They're not doing well, honestly," K admitted before she scrubbed her hand over her face. "I sent the guys to the kids for a while. Hostile X-Men take over as it were. Kitty's … Kitty's gone."

Noh stared at K for a moment before he simply reached over and pulled her into a hug. "She was a warrior. I counted myself lucky that she was in this family. I'm so sorry."

"There will be time to mourn after we've won or died," K replied. "I'd like to focus on winning."

Noh watched her for a moment before he nodded and then looked to Tony. "Well then," he said. "Let's get to work."

* * *

While it was clear that Apocalypse was building up to something horrible, there was no sign of anything getting any worse than it had been - at least in the immediate future, so the X-Men decided that they were going to do as right by their ghosted out Shadowcat as they possibly could. Without the benefit of a body to mourn over, they gathered up as a family to try to say their goodbyes before they lost anyone else. And it was likely that they would in the coming battle.

When the mourning X-Men had arrived at the cabin, their children had all sought them out - seeing that their dads obviously needed the support, and every single one of them wrapped their little ones up in tight hugs for a long time. Ivy had crawled up with her grandfather, Chelsea kept kissing Kurt's face, and even John was snuggling Logan with a little extra care alongside Malin and Sadie.

The news had hit those at the cottage hard as well - especially since no one had expected Kitty of all people to go that quickly with no warning. Logan had been careful to keep Peter close, and even though Nina and Jayce were a mess on their own, Sadie, Malin, and John helped to take care of the three Quills left.

It was especially hard for Jayce with his best friend's powerset being what it was. No one had to tell Tristan what had happened when the group arrived and he could hear Peter projecting pain, loss, and shock.

It had taken Tristan to his knees, and he'd started openly crying before they even got the story. So when Jayce and Nina heard for themselves what had happened, Nina ran to her dad, but Jayce had stayed stock still in shock until Tristan pulled his best friend into a tight hug that he simply wasn't going to let up on for anything.

So Jayce promptly fell apart into a puddle, not quite like the sobbing that his dad and Nina were doing, which was louder and almost panicked. He fell apart like his mom did, completely wilting, hanging onto Tristan for support.

 _I… I'm so sorry_ , Tristan projected. He didn't reach out like that often, but he knew Jayce was beyond words. Besides, he and Jayce talked telepathically more than Tristan did with anyone except his family members, so Jayce's mind was already familiar.

Jayce was quietly numb for a long time before, in a voice that was quiet even telepathically, he said, _I just… always figured we were… untouchable. Stupid, I know._

 _It's not stupid_ , Tristan assured him. _I mean, I think the same thing about my dad sometimes, what with the healing and all, but you've seen him lately, right? He's so run down trying to heal everyone that's getting hurt in these fights…_ He trailed off and didn't finish his thought, realizing that the fear that his dad would get so rundown his healing would be shot didn't compare to Jayce actually losing his mom. _This whole thing sucks, Jay._

 _Don't have to tell me_ , Jayce said, which got a smirk out of Tristan, at least.

Still, no one in the Quill family _really_ had it together, so while the adults at least tried to gather themselves and plan for a funeral in the middle of a war with Apocalypse, the youngest kids and those that couldn't fight tried to pitch in. So many people were affected by Kitty's loss that they were never short of people who needed hugs and the promise of a private cry. Even Kade, who usually teased Nina nonstop because it was his way of showing affection, would halfway curl around her the second he thought she needed to cry.

Still, even with their respective best friends taking care of them, Nina and Jayce were defaulting to wanting to stay with their dad… and with their grandfather, too. They didn't even say anything - they couldn't, really - but between them, somehow, they ended up sitting on either side of Logan and leaning into him until they were all but snuggled in right where they were, like they used to do when they were very young and Logan and K had come up to visit in Chicago.

Nobody wanted to interrupt them when they were like that. So, it was exceedingly quiet where they were all hidden away.

* * *

As they neared the set time for the memorial service, others from the hidden cabins began showing up - by bamf, and in order of who was most visibly upset. Jubilee had surprised herself when she'd started simply crying silently … unable to stop the tears and not even really noticing them until Noh had pointed it out to her. And as soon as K had seen it, she sent Jubilee right to the cabin for the same distance the others got - and bearing a message for Scott. _We're not going to launch from this cabin. I'll give you the details when you can process them. Don't worry about it. We've got it covered._

Scott stared at Jubilee for a moment before he seemed to take a deep breath and square his shoulders with a nod. "Alright," he said as he got to his feet, rubbing a hand through Ivy's hair. "Alright," he said again. "Let's just… alright."

Shortly before the service started, the rest of the team of gathered heroes that had been at the cabin when Kitty died appeared, and K had Logan's package clutched in one hand as she followed the group to where the others had gathered for Kitty with Chance and Elin following her by a couple of paces. Her little ones rushed over to say hello, and she and Logan took a long moment just wrapped up tightly before she handed him the package again and took his hand to find their spot in the crowd.

The service was quiet - the hurt was still clearly palpable for so many of them - and hard to get started for those closest to Kitty. They wanted to remember Kitty, but they were all in such shock that it was hard to find words so close to the loss. But after a brief and beautiful eulogy from Ilyanna, who trembled through he entire speech, the group simply started to share stories.

It was still a slow start. Most of those that ventured to tell a story were the ones that hadn't been quite as close, who had the emotional capacity even to speak. But eventually, the others joined in, speaking from a place that showed how close at heart they were to Kitty. Kurt spoke about Kitty's bravery in standing up for him when she was still so new to the team, and so young and fearless. A stoney-faced Scott recalled how Kitty had joined the team and saved every one of them before she had even been made an official student. When she figured out that they were telling stories about her mom and that anyone could say anything, Nina joined in with a simple, "Mom made me put my shoes on my right feet so the dinosaurs face the right way."

Logan spoke of her bravery in spite of everything that she had to fight against - and how strong of a person she was, never backing down from anything or anyone before Jubilee took over on how much fun the two of them learned to have once she'd gotten over her serious 'tude and actually listened to how amazingly down to earth Kitty could be.

Eventually, a visibly shaky Quill even spoke up and very softly recalled how he met Kitty and how he'd fallen in love with her. He recalled how he'd proposed and waited seven years and then sort of fallen silent and simply put his head in his hands as Nina climbed up beside him to give him a solid hug.

Tyler was the one to close it out since by that time, Kurt simply wasn't able to do so. He said a final prayer for Kitty and then fell silent, letting the quiet say more than the stories had, before the crowd finally started to disperse, slowly - but they still had a war to fight, sadly.

What none of the group could see, however, was the fact that the service was better attended than they knew.

Kitty had seen the whole thing, and she was still watching as her family said so many wonderful things about her.

She wasn't alone, either, standing beside other friends that she'd lost. But most importantly, Charles Xavier had made sure that she wasn't alone as she watched the service, staying beside her as she simply covered her mouth and couldn't stop the flood of emotions watching her friends and family hurt.

"How did you do this?" she asked in barely a whisper as she finally turned to Charles and buried her face in his side before he turned to hug her properly. "How do you watch…?"

"It helps to know that this is temporary," Charles told her as he pulled her into a solid hug. "They will all move on eventually, and you'll get to see their successes as well." He dipped his head down to catch her gaze with a warm smile. "And when they join us, even if in your case it seems far too soon, there is family waiting here too."

Kitty buried her face a little deeper and simply stayed there in a tight hug for a long time, turning her face to watch her family mourn below.

The group stuck together for a long moment, different pairs of adoptive family taking their time before breaking off to start to get to work , and while their kids gravitated over to take care of Peter Quill, Nina, and Jayce, Logan and K took a long moment in a simple hug as Logan did his level best to rein himself in, entirely wrapped up in his wife.

K didn't need to tell him what they had ahead, he knew it all too well, and he'd made all of the preparations he could. So instead, she simply held onto him until he decided it was time to move. But before he did, he had to set something straight.

"The next girl is Katherine Anne," he said quietly in K's ear, and to his shock, she didn't even blink or miss a beat before she nodded her agreement.

"On your mark," she replied, and that at least, got a subdued sort of smirk out of him before he finally drew in a deep breath and took half a step back, though he kept his hand at her waist.

The two of them stepped away from the lingering crowd, and Logan had one arm around K and the other hand squeezing the white-wrapped package tighter until he very nearly ran into Scott.

Scott tipped his head when he saw the package with a frown. "What've you got?" he asked.

Logan let out all of his breath as he held it out between them, then let go of K to unwrap it - though Scott wasn't sure what the story really was until he saw the almost glowing red as Logan partly unsheathed the Muramasa blade.

Scott stared at the blade for a moment in silence before he looked back at Logan and seemed to take a long breath and hold it for a long time. "If I draw his attention, I can give you a clean shot at him."

"I'll take a dirty one if that's all I can get," Logan replied. "I'll wait as long as I can."

Scott nodded and glanced over at K for a moment before he seemed to straighten up. "We need to get moving," he said.

"Everything is waiting at the next cabin," K promised. "We set up to launch before we came here."

Scott nodded at that. "Then let's not waste any time," he said. "He's not getting anyone else."

"I'll fill you in on what we have for a plan so far," K said. "Just keep an open mind."

Scott gestured for her to go ahead. "Any plan that keeps my niece, my godson, and the others alive is a good one."

K nodded and simply started to walk with him and Logan as they headed toward the ships with those that were going to fight trailing behind them already.


	12. Enough Is Enough

As the blackbird approached Giza, the Horsemen were surprised at their arrival. The clues should have led the X-Men back to Luxor, where James had lured Kitty and Peter Quill or the spot in Alexandria they had been using before as they staged a final, crushing attack on Jerusalem, but there were their enemies all the same, coming to them in Apocalypse's own backyard.

It was a sooner than they had expected, but as Apocalypse had been telling them to prepare for this battle, the horsemen felt ready for it, confident in their abilities as the Earth's heroes started to pour into the battlefield.

"If you stop them incoming, I'll tear apart the ones that land," Sying muttered to Amadi with a smirk that she matched for a moment before she nodded and lifted up into the air, intending to start knocking ships out of the sky-

Until she herself was hit with a gale-force wind out of seemingly nowhere, surprising her into hitting the ground. The Horsemen saw the bare outline of Marie in the wind before Storm joined the fight as well, blasting Amadi back with driving rain as Marie picked herself up.

"It's time to stop playing in the clouds and see what a real goddess is capable of," Storm said, with her eyes flashing. In response, Amadi let out a cry of rage before she burst forward to engage her mother.

From the ground, it seemed as if the fight between the two goddesses was simply a series of thunderclaps and lightning strikes in the skies above them that shook the ground and rumbled each of them right to their cores. The sounds echoing down was ominous ad illustrated how small even the most powerful mutants were in the face of nature itself. And because of that, the rolling skies and loud cacophony was the perfect backdrop to the upcoming battle as the rest of the heroes arrived ready to fight.

Standing underneath the rolling sky, Sying glanced up at the lightning with a frown before he rushed forward, plasmoid in hand. He drew back his fist, ready to blow apart the blackbird - and then very suddenly… dropped.

Noh was wincing - even though he'd healed by then - as he got out to quickly zip over to Sying and gather him up to hide him away in the _Marvel_ for the duration of the fight, directing the ship to take him into orbit until the battle was over.

They hadn't had the time to do something as elegant and complicated as a complete takeover of the nanites, and they were fighting against the very real probability that James would undo their good work if they were to rely on _one_ method alone. But a complete shut-down, and off switch, was not only quick, dirty, and easier but harder to undo when both Noh and Tony had made sure the command would require several different rebooting systems before Sying could come back "online."

"I'm very sorry," Noh muttered to his unconscious son as he set him down and restrained him for good measure in the _Marvel_ before the ship took off, and he got back to the fight.

K hit the ground running after she'd given Logan a solid kiss and both had promised to do their best not to die. She hadn't even waited for the plane to land all the way before she headed out, and when she got to a reasonably clear looking area, she started shouting in Swedish for James to come out, swearing out old curses and angrily snarling out how it was shocking that Daken was the honorable one out of the boys they had to deal with.

She brought no sword with her, and simply waited for any sign of an opponent, though as she waited, she quickly and almost effortlessly cut down Marauders that came her way. "Typical worthless old man," K snarled out, knowing full well that at least James could hear her, and if she was close enough, Apocalypse could too. "Relying on the talents of others while he waits for the path to be cleared for him. Spoiled, entitled, pitiful _coward_."

For the moment, Apocalypse didn't rise to the bait - but that quickly changed when Amadi was the next of his horsemen to fall. Her loss to Storm was marked as the skies suddenly went silent as Pestilence was seen falling from the sky, unconscious, dripping wet, and with several burns in her clothing and skin from lightning strikes powerful enough that even Amadi couldn't stand up to them.

"If it makes you feel better," K called up when she finally spotted where Apocalypse was watching the mayhem. "I can give you the same courtesy that I did Ronan and put one hand behind my back. Though I doubt you could have kept up with him. He was actually a _warrior_. Not a spoiled, self crowned would-be king."

That was enough to get Apocalypse stalking her way with his eyes flashing. "Hold your tongue," he snapped her way.

"You don't have what it takes to make me," K shot back.

He sneered at her for a moment before he simply turned his head. "Then you will know death," he said, and with a small movement, James came out to play as well.

K didn't look surprised or taken off balance at all. "Well, you can try, son," she said, pointedly baiting both of them as she held up one hand and then put it behind her back.

James stalked toward her - looking just as even and stoic as he had been from the beginning when he'd first gone after Amadi, but it was apparent almost right off the bat that this wasn't the kind of fight that _he_ was used to. He'd fought and trained with his _father_ for years, and he knew several of the moves his father liked to default to, but his mother … that was a different story entirely.

Most of the attacks he used against her ended in a miss or a redirect, and more than once, she made a point to reach out and slap him in the face when he missed. It was never _hard_ , just enough to shock him and accentuate how far he had to go - and of course, to rile him. The shots he managed to land on her were glancing and quickly answered with brutal hits of K's own design that like _most_ of her fighting style centered around using the bigger person's size and height to _her_ advantage.

The fact that James had been fighting only people without Adamantium skeletons to supplement them just made it that much harder for him to handle her strikes, too. He managed to get her on the ground, but before he could land the nasty hit he had lined up, she kicked him hard just below his ribcage and used the momentum of him folding to launch him backwards into the sand with a follow up to his shoulder with a heel as she launched herself to her feet.

She waited for him to get his feet under himself and charge before she swiftly sidestepped and used his forward motion to throw him over her shoulder - right at Apocalypse.

Apocalypse tossed James aside with a near roar of anger, though he was so locked onto K for the insult as he stalked toward her that he didn't notice Scott and Logan as they split to different sides of him. Before Apocalypse could reach her, Scott sent a solid optic blast his way, catching him off-guard enough to knock him back several steps.

He turned his attention to Scott, who tipped his chin up and met Apocalypse's gaze for just a second before his own gaze went bright red and he simply let him have it, the full blast that would have been the equivalent of taking the visor off when he still needed it.

Apocalypse let out a cry of pure rage as he turned toward Scott, holding his hand up against the blast. Scott poured on the power, forcing Apocalypse to fight for every single step as he approached.

And while Apocalypse was going around with Scott, James regained his footing and simply charged his mother when her attention was on the fight with Apocalypse. As he attacked - claws out and ready do her real damage, she reached down to pick up a handful of sand to throw in his face. It was just enough to get clearly out of his path, and she dodged the first few swipes as he tried to find his bearings again. When he landed a solid hit, she returned the favor without thinking much about it until of course, James let out a sound of pure pain that set K back.

But that really was the edge that he needed, and instead of it being a reality check that she had hoped for, he used her momentary slip in focus against her. In a flash, K found herself playing defense and backing up - out of room to maneuver away from him or to redirect his strikes.

The hit he'd landed had gotten him close enough for him to put his own speed as a real factor while paired with his strength, and for the first time in a long time, K was trying to find distance against someone much taller, broader, and stronger than she was - with the same healing potential. His strides out paced her, and rushing backwards, uphill in sand was not something that was easy to do. But still, it took longer than he'd anticipated to get his mother onto the ground again, claws locked and angled over her in such a way that she couldn't use her legs against him.

He took a risk and retracted one set of claws to simply pop them again high, nearly catching them up in her ribs as he twisted his wrist and shredded her heart, but it was enough to take the fight out of her anyhow.

He let her lean back into the sand and was just drawing back again when the intense red glow not far from their position came to a stop, and James looked over to see that Scott had gone down to his knee, completely out of juice as Apocalypse smirked triumphantly, taking the last few steps toward Scott -

Only to be interrupted by the sound of a sword unsheathing. Without any further warning, Logan rushed up behind Apocalypse - holding the red-bladed katana in a samurai stance just before he a danced under Apocalypse's arm and lopped off his arm and head - as he'd tried to block the blow. Before the monster's body could catch up to his head, Logan took it one step further and sunk the blade dead center into Apocalypse's chest and drew it straight down before he flicked the sword out sharply and turned away from the destroyed body on his way to Scott.

James stared for a moment totally at a loss on what to do before positively snarling in rage, drawing his father's attention while his mother was gasping for a breath and bleeding in the sand.

Logan took a moment to take in the scene before he cleaned off the blade and began to stride right toward James. "Enough is enough," Logan growled out. He rushed James, clearly ready and willing to at least _stop_ the boy, particularly since his wife was on the ground.

But while Logan had tackled James to the ground, Leslie Ann slipped in to stand where James had just been, watching the fight go on and waiting for a good opening as she crouched down beside K and rested her hand on K's arm, though her gaze was on the fight.

"What a shame that they're so distracted," Leslie Ann said as she spoke over K's shoulder, watching the fight in the distance. She let out a little "mm" when she started to drain the energy from K, her eyes sparkling with that same golden glow whenever she took people's life forces. "I _knew_ you'd be a better meal than the others. And while you're healing … that is somehow _better_ ," she said, though as K started to wilt, Leslie Ann looked almost disappointed. "Maybe two…"

Logan had shown exactly how fed up he was when he sidestepped James and gave him a _mostly_ superficial cut across his shoulder. It was enough to get James to stop for a moment when he realized that he was still bleeding long after he should have been healed up. "Let it go," Logan said. "You can't win this."

Almost as if on cue, the air around James began to chill, and the young man found himself slowly becoming encased in ice in the middle of the desert. "I'm not going to let you do this, Logan," Bobby called out. "I've got it."

Logan let out a breath, sure that Bobby could at least freeze the kid halfway into a block of ice if he needed to before he turned to check on K and found her laid out on the sand and looking a lot worse for wear, though she was doing her best to sit upright on her own, and growling low, it was clear to Logan that she wasn't as healed as she _should_ be. "Call Thor," K said just loud enough for Logan to hear, though he frowned when he realized K didn't have the strength or coordination to hit the signal herself. "She went for the bait and she's close."

Logan had barely nodded and sent for Thor when vines rose up quickly from the desert sand and entwined around him. Leslie Ann stepped forward from the nearby oasis, her eyes shining with hunger as she darted forward to grab Logan by the wrist with a malicious kind of smile as soon as she knew he was wound up too tightly to move in the vines.

"I really don't care about the rest of it," she admitted to Logan as she started to pull out his energy right then and there. "I can't stop - and you two are the only thing that _works_." She didn't sound apologetic about it as she grabbed on with the other hand, just perfectly matter-of-fact, telling him how it was. "And you're stronger, much less injured - much _more_ for me," she added, her grin widening as the energy glowed and flowed from the point of contact. "You said you'd do whatever it took to help me once … when I was little. I had no idea _this_ would be what I'd need."

Logan tried what he could to pull away from her, but by then, the vines had bound him so tightly, he couldn't even move his head. "We can fix this," Logan told her, still trying to talk some sense into her. "He's dead - this'll go easier now."

Leslie Ann let out a little laugh that didn't sound like herself at all as she shifted her grip from his wrist to his neck, not too unlike how Apocalypse had held each of the horsemen at first. "Didn't you hear me? I don't _care_ ," she said, her eyes wide. "I'm _starving_. It's all I can think about." She leaned in closer to Logan with her eyes still glowing. "It's so hard to be patient while you both heal ...I just wonder if draining you _dry_ will do it. Maybe that last little bit of life is what I _need_." As she spoke, some of her vines curled around K's ankles too, as she decided to go for broke and drain both of them at once. With Apocalypse no longer giving orders on who she could and couldn't go after, she might be able to sate the gnawing hunger _finally_.

The two ferals tried to fight back, of course, but for as tightly as she had them restrained, and the longer she had a hold of them, the less they could devote to even trying to reason with her, and it wasn't long before first K and then Logan simply closed their eyes and began to relax into the sand.

But before Leslie Ann could drain them completely dry, Thor arrived looking thunderous when he saw the state of affairs.

" _Enough_ ," he said in a booming voice that shook the sand as surely as the thunder itself as it crackled overhead with his ire. He strode over to the downed ferals and before Leslie Ann could switch from draining the ferals to defense, Thor simply seized her by the shoulder and turned her to face him.

For an instant, Leslie Ann tried to fight back against him, but it was abundantly clear that she couldn't stand up to the God of Thunder. He seized both of her arms in one hand, and wrenched her away from the vines holding Logan and K. As soon as the connection between her and her plants was broken, the vines simply withered as he lifted Leslie Ann away from her victims.

Leslie Ann started to cough again, looking sick the longer Thor held onto her, but he didn't let her wriggle out of his grasp, even going so far as to rest a hand on her clammy forehead as she visibly wilted.

"The battle is _over_ ," Thor informed her as she made a few vague attempts at escape, still straining against his grip but with no strength to her efforts. But, finally, Leslie Ann seemed to give up entirely. She had dark circles under her eyes before she fell unconscious, and Thor was far more gentle when he settled her down in the sand and stepped back before his presence could do her any more lasting damage.

He turned his gaze toward the last horseman standing, and wanted to go and _end_ this fiasco but the moment that Leslie Ann let out a noise of discomfort, he decided instead to keep watch over both her _and_ the two barely breathing Howletts.

Not far from where Famine had lost her battle, Bobby was having a hell of a time fighting against James. He'd thought that all would be good considering all of the rain that had fallen from Amadi and Storm's battle, but in the stifling heat, the water was drying up fast. It wasn't long before Bobby was having trouble making ice that was hard enough to _hold_ James. By the time he broke out of the last bit of crumbling, opaque ice, he made a mad lunge at Bobby and stabbed him through one side of his chest with a snarl. The young man was beyond words and more livid than he could even begin to process, but one thing was clear - Bobby was bearing the brunt of his rage.

All at once, as Bobby hit the sand, James retracted his claws and simply started _pounding_ on him. If he'd intended to simply kill him, it could have been over a lot faster, but instead, James was set on beating him to death when he was too dry to ice up and try and minimize the damage.

James was just drawing back another punch - with Bobby long unconscious and bloodied badly by that point - when he suddenly found himself yanked into the air. "What do you think you're doing?" Rachel snapped at him, fire in her gaze as she brought him higher into the air.

James' only answer was a venomous glare, and he never stopped growling. It was clear that even though Apocalypse was dead, his hold on James went far deeper than a simple brainwashing.

Rachel met his glare with one of her own, especially when she looked down to see that Bobby was honestly struggling - not only with the injuries James had dealt him but with the heat drying him out. She let out a sound that was pure anger before she dove into James' mind, meaning to end this nonsense _then and now_.

She tore through James' mind, burning through Apocalypse's presence there, though the more she saw, the more she realized that she didn't see anything else other than Apocalypse. There wasn't any sign of the James that they knew - it was as if Apocalypse had somehow scooped him out and put himself there instead.

On realizing what Apocalypse had done, Rachel simply got _angry_ , furious with the damage and disregard for the James they'd been searching for. This couldn't be it. After all, James' mind had still been working to do the coding and the strategizing that they'd seen. Something more sinister was in play, and Rachel wasn't having it.

She abandoned any sense of being gentle to preserve what she could as she dove into James' mind with more fervor, blazing through him and not noticing the fact that he was crying out as she did so. After all, if Apocalypse truly _had_ destroyed James, and he was no longer there, then there was no reason to be gentle with the _shell_ of who he once was. But in her rage, she didn't notice that the fire was _too hot_ , and burning too fast. She was just so _furious…_ and here was the last remnant of the reason her husband was lying in the sand _dying._ The reason that Kitty was dead. The reason that her family was in so much pain.

The Phoenix fires grew hotter and brighter as the other X-Men were busy gathering their injured while Rachel and James were high above them. But it wasn't until the Phoenix's cry echoed the desert that Scott and Kurt _knew_ there was a problem.

James' limbs were outstretched, his back arched, and his head tipped back as he simply burned, though his scream was totally hidden in the roaring fire. But just when the flames had reached their hottest, the yellow glow to James' eyes went out. Rachel had burned out the last bits of Apocalypse, but James was now fully aware of what was happening and it all rushed in and overwhelmed him completely.

Both Scott and Kurt rushed toward the scene, though their focuses were on different people. It was clear to Scott that Rachel had lost her focus and was losing control of the Phoenix, and Kurt meanwhile was locked onto James, waiting for any moment for Rachel to let up so he could get to James…

But it was clear that Rachel didn't even hear it when Scott called out for her to stop, the Phoenix wings spreading further across the sky before Scott shouted for Kurt to get Bobby out of there before Rachel accidentally finished him off as well. With Bobby away from the flames, Scott looked back up at Rachel and James - and finally saw what Kurt had seen, that James was himself and still in Rachel's clutches.

"You can stop now!" he yelled, though in the sand, there was little he could find to get higher to get her attention. "Rachel! You're _done_!"

But there was still no response from Rachel. If anything, the Phoenix was only getting stronger from Rachel's rage and James' despair. It was visible on the ground to Scott by the way that Rachel was hungrily leaning toward James as the Phoenix had once done while it had inhabited Jean ….and Rachel could hardly even see what she was doing to him. Scott was starting to truly panic, sure that this could only end badly, when there was a sudden blue light nearby, and he turned to see Nate and Hope both rushing into the sand.

 _Rachel, get a hold of yourself!_ Nate called out to her, projecting so that Scott could hear it as well so that he knew what was happening. _That's_ James _you've got in the fire. Listen to him!_

 _He's not there anymore,_ Rachel replied in a tone that wasn't truly hers.

 _Get a handle on it, Rachel,_ Nate replied. _Think about it. You think_ I'd _try to stop you from burning out Apocalypse? Really? Me?_

Rachel finally paused and glanced toward Nate, her lips pulled down into a sneer before she glanced toward what was left of James and finally saw it - the glow in his eyes was gone, and though he was in clear agony, his thoughts were clear as well: _I deserve it. Just finish it. Please. Please, just kill me._

She stopped outright, standing in the air with her arms still outstretched and staring at the young man as even his thoughts dissolved into little more than desperate, soft pleas before she finally took a deep breath, realizing for the first time how powerful the Phoenix force was around her - and just how much she'd let it go.

 _Nate_ …

_Yeah, I know. Just get a handle on it and we'll deal with the rest later, okay?_

Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to force the control, listening to Nate and Hope and even Scott as they coaxed her back down from the brink. She had never been that close to losing control before, and it honestly scared her - but it was her family in her mind that ultimately kept her grounded, and the flames finally folded back and died as she dropped herself and James back to the ground, far more exhausted than she could remember feeling before as Nate rushed to catch her.

When James landed in the sand, there were several spots where his skeleton was shining up - the flesh entirely gone, and all of his hair and clothes were of course, burned off entirely. He was still smoking and entirely charred, almost perfectly still and not even trying to move a muscle.

Scott was the closest to where James fell, and he stared for a moment in abject horror before he closed his eyes, let out a breath and bent down to scoop James up to carry him back to the ship. "Come on, buddy," he muttered to him low. "Don't you leave me. Don't let him win."

Of course, James wasn't responding to Scott at all short of the involuntary sounds of pain. Now that he was away from the fires, it was clear how low and stuttered his breathing was on top of everything else, and Scott simply couldn't believe that he was bringing _three_ nearly dead ferals off of the field.

And though Rachel was shaken and focused on her family … neither she nor Nate missed the devastated sounding ' _no'_ that James projected as Scott was moving him to help. She turned toward her brother, pale and wide eyed.

 _I know_ , Nate projected to her - though Scott was not privy to this conversation. _We won't let him suffer. We'll have to come back to him, but there are plenty of others who need immediate help, and we need to get him stable first._

Rachel stared after Scott, but she knew if she focused on James _now_ , she'd be right back in the flames again … and she had to keep a tight lid on the Phoenix. Especially when there was this much emotion to draw from. She _couldn't_ be too close to James when he was that far gone mentally. Not yet.


	13. One More Loss

Chance and Elin were gathering up their team, herding them toward the _Shanghai_ and assessing injuries. Every single one of them was going to need at least patching up. Chance had a broken arm; Gerry had been knocked out and had a pretty serious concussion; Kaleb and Chloe had managed to escape mostly unscathed in terms of serious injuries but were sporting matching black eyes and plenty of bruises.

Which just left Cody, who wasn't answering either Chance or Elin when they called for him - though he was surprisingly the member of the team most likely to lose his comm, so that wasn't too out of the ordinary.

Chance flat out didn't want to get seen to until he knew where his little brother was, insisting on going with Elin to find him in case he was hurt.

"You're being stubborn," Elin told him as they headed out to the borders of the fight, where some of the junior squad had been turning back civilian bystanders and keeping Marauders from, well, marauding outside of the battle with the X-Men. "Just so you know. I can do this alone and you need a _medic_."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "But all things considered, I'm going with."

"Yeah, I noticed," she said in an almost flat tone.

Chance turned her way for a second and then squeezed her hand with his good one. "I can ask Kaleb or Chloe to look with me if you want to go find James," he said.

"No, that's … I doubt there would be anything I could do," Elin said, shrugging. "And both Mom and Dad made it clear we needed to keep away from him."

Chance nodded at that and leaned over to kiss her cheek before they went back to their search, sifting through the battle-scarred desert together until Chance spotted the bright yellow on Cody's uniform and rushed over - only to stop short when he cleared the small dune and got a good look at his brother.

It was easy enough to see what the trouble was. One of the Marauders had gotten to him, and considering the shape of the fist imprint where Cody's chest had been caved in, there was absolutely no way he had survived it. Not with how much blood had stained the sand and not with the placement of the blow and not with… _everything_.

"Oh God," Elin breathed out before she rushed over and slid up to Cody, holding her breath as she still checked to listen to his chest. When it was absolutely apparent that he was beyond any kind of real hope, she couldn't quite think to reach for the comm. Instead, her shoulders rolled forward, and she covered her mouth with one hand and simply started crying.

Chance was frozen where he stood, just _staring_ at Cody for a long time like he couldn't believe his brother wasn't getting up. Of all the close calls they'd had together, Chance had always been the one to get out the other end worse off than Cody, so it just… wasn't clicking for him what was happening until he felt his knees hit the sand and realized he had sunk to them.

He finally managed to process what was happening after several long moments, and he made a real effort to get up again and get over to Cody, but by the time he managed just those few steps, he was spent again and simply sank down beside Elin, staring at Cody. By the time he even registered that he was crying too, he had already crumpled over and was resting his forehead just under Cody's chin, hanging on with one good hand to Cody's shoulder as it all came crashing down around him and he finally started to cry in earnest.

After a long moment, Elin managed to get her phone out rather than her comm. She didn't want Scott or Chloe to be the ones to respond, so instead, she sent a text for Kurt to come to them, since she was shaking too much to even attempt to pick Cody up herself. She was sure to add, _Please don't send Scott._

Kurt appeared a few moments later looking obviously concerned, considering the nature of the text message, though whatever he had suspected still hadn't quite prepared him for what he saw when he got there to find Elin in absolute tears and Chance crumpled over Cody's body.

Kurt froze when he saw it, his heart in his throat and his tail dragging in the sand behind him as he took two careful steps forward to put a hand on Elin's shoulder and pull her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. He was already fighting back tears himself, but his concern was with his goddaughter and her husband. Sadly, he had already buried friends before. But the two of them had _not_.

"I don't know what to _do_ ," Elin said quietly. "We were too late. _I don't know what to do._ "

Kurt pulled her into an even tighter hug as he looked to the two Summers boys and simply let his shoulders drop. "No one ever does," he promised her gently. He rested his head on hers for a moment before he took in a breath and let it out all at once. "I'll take care of getting them where they need to be."

She nodded and stepped back, trying to wipe the tears away before she began to head back toward the jets alone with her arms wrapped around her middle. She didn't get too terribly far before Kurt teleported her the rest of the way to where Logan and K were loaded up in the blackbird.

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. "They're healing," he promised her before he disappeared again to go get Chance, leaving her with her parents as well as, to her surprise, Nate and Hope taking care of an unconscious Rachel and a beaten-down Bobby.

Elin took the time to take in what was going on around her before she took a seat between her parents - honestly shocked at how small they both looked - their uniforms were baggy on them and even with them both being covered, she was having trouble seeing them both so _thin_. She'd _never_ seen her father with so little to him. If it wasn't for the scent and the uniform, she might have thought he was someone else entirely.

Rachel still smelled like the Phoenix, the smoke, fire, ozone, and the _something_ that changed her scent every time she reached for cosmic powers. She knew from the sharp tang of anxiety still lingering in the air that she still didn't know just _how_ bad things were, but she couldn't quite process anything more than sitting with her parents for the moment.

Meanwhile, Kurt had reappeared by Chance and Cody to see that the scene absolutely hadn't changed there. Chance was still clutching onto Cody like a lifeline, crying and whispering apologies that stopped Kurt in his tracks as he tried to compose himself. When he had better control of himself - and when Chance had stopped whispering how sorry he was he hadn't protected his little brother and had moved on to simply crying - Kurt crouched down beside him to gently lay a hand on his shoulder before he teleported both of the Summers boys to the _Marvel_ rather than the _Shanghai_ , signalling to Kaleb and Chloe to go ahead and take off, since the rest of their team would be going in different ships.

As soon as they appeared in the _Marvel_ , Kurt called out for Jubilee, knowing that Noh was probably either piloting or checking on Sying, and he was sure to keep his hand on Chance's shoulder so that he knew he wasn't alone. At least until Jubilee came running down the hall to see what had happened, then stopped short with a gasp when she saw Cody.

She stared for a long moment, wide-eyed, before she rushed over to the boys and quickly inserted herself between them to pull Chance into a hug, though when he let out a little pained noise, she frowned and stepped back. She was already crying in spite of herself when she saw his broken arm and glanced up at Kurt. "I'll take care of him," she promised, her voice shaky in spite of her attempt to keep her cool.

Kurt nodded quietly, though he stayed where he was as he watched her. This was not how anyone was used to seeing Jubilee, and considering how upset she'd been since Kitty's death, he didn't think it wise to expect her to be able to handle all of this, too. "If it's alright, I'd like to return home with you," he admitted. "And help to keep an eye on things."

Jubilee nodded lightly before she turned her full attention to Chance, who was obviously in complete emotional shock. He was still crying quietly, but it was surprisingly easy to get him to follow Jubilee down to the _Marvel's_ med bay. And though she was crying freely, she was surprisingly on task. At least for the moment. When she saw how numb Chance was, Jubilee decided then and there that she was not just going to give him something for his arm, but she was going to go ahead and knock him out entirely. He needed it. She knew that she'd have liked to have just slept when she found out about Kitty - and she and Kitty had taken _far too long_ to learn to get along. Cody … she _knew_ how tight Chance and Cody were.

And once Chance was asleep, Jubilee kept it together just long enough to get herself back to Kurt, because seeing Chance in the _Marvel's_ med bay laid out like that… she knew she couldn't leave Cody in there too. She couldn't leave him on a table. He needed - no, _she_ needed - something that felt less clinical.

She somehow managed to communicate that to Kurt, though by that time, her breath was coming in little hiccoughs. Nothing about this was okay. Not Cody, not Kitty, not the fact that her _son_ was in a nanite-induced _coma_ …

Somewhere in the middle of telling Kurt that there was a spare room for Cody, she lost her good grip on her emotions, and he ended up sitting with her as she cried into his chest - and he, too, finally let loose his own dam of emotions, curling up with his good friend as they mourned.

* * *

Across the battlefield on the blackbird, when Scott finally arrived with James - who was totally unrecognizable- there was a quick rush to get him on a stretcher and settled in. Elin simply watched in horror on seeing the state of her little brother as Hank did his best to put in an IV and cover James up with a clean sheet. For just a moment, even Hank had to pause - unsure of where, if anywhere, he could even place a lead on the boy without doing him more damage. As it turned out, there wasn't much he could do; oxygen and IV fluids were all he had available for James without far more specialized equipment than what they had on board.

Scott kept a careful vigil close by until it was clear there was nothing he could help Hank with, and he finally headed for the cockpit, looking ill, before he paused when he saw Elin and made sure to give her a hug. "They'll be alright," he promised her gently.

She couldn't help but continue to stare at her family in silence, since to her, it was clear that was a hope more than it was a promise. She was caught up in the scents and she was very sure she'd never be able to shake the horrible combination of charcoal, copper, and so _rich_ she had to cover her nose. _And_ she knew about Cody … That was something that was going to destroy any hope he had left, and that knowledge had Elin positively _mute._

Scott gave her a tight sort of smile before he double-checked to make sure Hank had everything secure, and in short order, he put them in the air while Elin fell back into silent tears. Scott was already feeling the aftereffects of the battle weighing on him, though he was pushing that aside until they could get home and get everyone on his team - in his _family_ \- to better care.

Nate followed Scott up to the cockpit and dropped into the copilot chair without a word, determined to keep a close eye on Scott.

 _Thank you_ , Scott said after a good long while in the air.

Nate simply nodded once, and kept his gaze forward. _Had to be done._

Scott was quiet for a while longer, lost in his thoughts, before he projected, _Will you be staying for a while, or was this just a stop-in to save Rachel?_

 _We'll be around for a little while,_ Nate replied. _We're not just here for Rachel._

Scott nodded slowly. _Yeah. I'm sure after that… Rachel could use a break, and we still have three horsemen - former horsemen… there's still a lot that needs doing._

 _Four. Four former horsemen,_ Nate corrected. _They all need help._

 _James isn't …_ Scott shook his head. _He already had it burned out of him. Along with who knows what else that_ shouldn't _have been burned out._

Nate turned and looked at his father for a moment. _It's not just about that now._

"Don't you think I know that?" Scott said out loud, surprising himself as he turned toward Nate. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elin watching the two of them before he caught his tone and let his shoulders drop as he turned back to the sky. _I can only do so much at a time, Nate. Get him out of the other three first, then we'll deal with the rest._

 _No one is asking you to do even half of what you do,_ Nate pointed out. _And we're here to_ help.

Scott nodded slowly and let out a breath. _Yes. Well. Thank you._

_Isn't that what family's for?_

* * *

With the mansion destroyed, the best place for the temporarily displaced heroes to regroup - and get badly-needed medical attention - was at one of Stark's secure facilities, so that was where Scott directed the teams.

They unloaded anyone who needed medical attention, obviously rushing it on the Howletts and Bobby first and foremost. The three former Horsemen would also need to be unloaded, though just to be safe, until they were fully clear, Tony had different rooms prepared for each of them to keep them secure and apart from the others.

Though that wasn't exactly Tony's first concern when the first people to arrive came off the blackbird and he saw the state the Howletts were in. Logan and K were positively skeletal and unconscious, and James was … _not_ his James.

Tony directed them on where to take the group, frowning the whole time as Hank quickly got them set up. "This is not funny, K," he told her even though she couldn't hear him. "I'm supposed to be making passes at you when I'm a hundred and four."

The others started to trickle through the doors in various states of injury. Kate had nearly a dozen wraps on her, and Gerry matched her pretty well with one around his head and a concussion. Rachel was still out, too, though they had expected that much, so it was nothing terribly out of the ordinary until the _Marvel_ arrived and Noh carried in the still drugged and unconscious Chance.

"What happened?" Scott asked, making his way over with a frown past Elin, who was still wearing a shell-shocked, thousand-yard stare, even when she saw Chance. But when no one seemed able to answer him, she realized she needed to step up.

She looked up at him, then around the hangar, not really wanting to be the one to deliver the news. "There was … we … we had a problem," Elin said, her chin quivering as her tears once again started drawing fresh lines through the dust on her face. She was half terrified to tell him. She'd _known_ the whole time and she hadn't told him and now … Elin could _not_ handle the look Scott was wearing. And it was only going to get worse."Chance will be okay. He broke his arm. But that's not ...that's not the problem.."

Scott frowned at that - and at the tone in Elin's voice - but thankfully, before he could press her on it, Noh had returned and put his hand on Scott's shoulder, frowning as he told Scott that there was one last thing he needed Scott for in his ship, trying to approach this conversation the right way even though he knew he wasn't the right emotional fit for the moment. But anyone else was an emotional wreck. Kurt and Jubilee had barely gotten themselves put back together in time for the landing, and Elin was obviously in shock. And no one else _knew_.

 _Stay with Wolvie and K. I'll take care of Ol' Fearless_ , Jubilee told her, and she barely said the same to Scott as she pulled her away.

 _And James, I'll be by him too,_ Elin replied, though it was clear she was still unable to stop crying.

Jubilee gave her a quick squeeze before she led Elin off behind her parents. As it was, Jubilee also needed to make sure that Logan was alright too. And after she'd seen him unloaded, there was no chance that she was going to be anywhere else.

Noh led Scott past Jubilee and Elin, frowning and lost in his thoughts. Scott, for his part, was sure that Noh needed help with Sying, and he was running down his own mental checklist of what Noh would have wanted his advice or help for when the nanites were keeping Sying unconscious. Neither of them spoke, then, until they got to the ship.

Once they were at the ship, they didn't go to the medical wing. Instead, they went to one of the side rooms, where Kurt had helped Jubilee to get Cody settled, and Noh finally paused outside of the door, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I wish that I knew what to say to prepare you," he admitted, looking tired and apologetic - and finally cluing Scott in that this wasn't a problem with Sying.

Scott could already feel his stomach in knots, but he wordlessly gestured for Noh to show him what the problem was - and nearly lost his footing when he stepped inside and saw Cody lying on the bed in the spare room.

For a moment, Scott wondered if this was a concussion case - or some worse kind of damage, his mind going instantly to what he'd suffered as a kid - but when he took another step forward and saw for himself what the story was, he froze, going entirely still and almost stiff, not even able to take the last few steps to where Cody was.

"I'm truly sorry," Noh said softly, standing in the doorway and looking lost for how to help. He'd experienced loss before, but none of his friends had ever lost _children_. Nothing in his past prepared him for that, either. "He was dead when Elin and Chance found him. If we could have saved him…" He sighed. "I'm sorry."

Scott nodded numbly, though he still hadn't moved, either. His gaze was locked onto Cody, and it felt like all of the breath had left him. There was a sort of dull rushing in his ears, an echo of Phoenix fire that still came to mind when he thought about loss like this, but he'd never thought it would be one of his kids. Not one that wasn't time-displaced or carrying the Phoenix, anyway.

When Scott hadn't moved, Noh stepped forward to stand next to him. "If you have any preference for where you would like him to rest for now, I can take him there."

Scott nodded again and moved to take a step forward to see Cody, but he ended up swaying instead, barely catching himself with a hand against the wall as everything swam in his vision for a moment. His breath was still caught in his chest, and when he closed his eyes to try to get a grip, it seemed to have the opposite effect on his balance, and his knees simply gave out as his entire chest felt like someone had caved it in too.

Noh's eyes went wide as he caught Scott before he could fall. Seeing that Scott couldn't get a breath right, he scooped Scott up to rush off with him to where Hank was busily working, with Tyler right alongside him in the middle of healing up Bobby.

"Hank," Noh called out to get his attention. "We have a situation - where should I take him?"

Hank glanced up and swore under his breath before he bounded over to pull a stretcher closer to Noh. "What happened?" He rushed to put leads and monitors on him as he frowned at the state of him.

"He collapsed when I took him to see Cody," Noh said, then realized he needed further explanation. "I wasn't sure how else to tell him that his son was dead. I didn't mean to do him further damage. Jubilee put him in a suite so he wasn't on a table, but there was little else we could do to cushion the blow."

Hank's hands paused for just a moment before he let out a disbelieving sound and doubled down on his work on Scott. "I see," he said quietly. "It's not enough so many young people were in trouble, or that Rachel nearly lost control ... "

Noh nodded wordlessly, watching Hank work and still trying to wrap his head around all that had happened. His mind was on the problem of freeing Sying from his controls, but his heart was with Jubilee and all the heartbreak she and their family had endured. But the rest of his friends and family were also suffering so much…

"I thought it wisest to let Jubilation _rest_ , all things considered," Hank said. "In case you were looking for her. She hasn't properly slept since we said goodbye to Kitty."

"I was just thinking of finding her, yes," Noh said. "But if she is sleeping - and she _does_ need it, as you said - then perhaps I could aid you. It seems you and Tyler have your hands full."

"If you feel up to it, perhaps you could help keep an eye on the monitors. We certainly have enough people occupying beds with advanced intervention required."

Noh nodded his agreement quickly. "Of course," he said. "I'm at your disposal."

"Though, if I think upon it for more than a moment, it might be best to send you to your little sister, seeing as she has her hands more than full at the moment."

Noh looked toward where Elin was sitting close to her family and nodded quickly before he made his way over to her and crouched down to be at eye level to where she was sitting. He didn't say anything before he pulled her into a long, tight hug and rested his chin on her head. "You look like you need company, little sister," he told her softly.

She did her best to keep up her stiff upper lip, but almost as soon as she leaned her head on Noh's shoulder, she started to cry again and nodded to him. "I can't let Sadie and Malin see them like this."

Noh glanced over at James in particular, frowned, and nodded against her forehead. "I doubt Hank will allow anyone into his workspace - especially close to those requiring more urgent care - that should not be here," he promised her.

She barely blinked as her tone fell flat. "You act like that would stop them," she said.

"Then give them something else to do," Noh said. He paused. "I can direct them to Charlie. An empath like her, with all these heavy emotions..."

"She'll need the backup," Elin said, nodding. "And … maybe tell them Annie will need help being … Annie."

"Oh, always," Noh said with an attempt at a smile before he pulled Elin into a long hug again. "I'm so sorry, Elin," he said. "Battles are always hard in the aftermath, but you seem to have been hit at all aspects - as a sister twice over, as an aunt, as a daughter."

"That's what happens when your whole family is on the front line," she replied softly. "But it looks like Mom's plan worked anyhow."

Noh nodded. "It did. And all four are back - though as to their state…" He trailed off and looked toward James, thinking of his son as well and wondering how changed each of the horsemen would be after all they had been through. "Well."

"I'm just … going to try and wait with them," she said. "And _if_ they stabilize, I'll go find John."

Noh kissed the top of her head. "You are a wonder, little sister," he told her with a little smile as he sat down beside her. "If you don't mind, I would like to wait with you for a while."

"No I'm not," she said, not even attempting to be sneaky when she leaned over to rest her head on him, and he simply kept his arm tight around her as he let her snuggle as much as she needed to. He might not have known how to help Scott, but he knew how to be a shoulder to cry on for his family.

* * *

In the meantime, Kurt and the bamfs had been bringing everyone in from the various hideouts and recovery spots to the temporary home, though he made it a point to pull Annie aside as well as the two Summers girls, teleporting them himself rather than with the bamfs so that they were in a more private area so he could speak to them for a moment.

He hardly even opened his mouth to say anything before the look on his face and the still-dark tear tracks in his fur had given him away, and Annie shook her head as she reached out to touch his arm. "Just tell me," she said quietly.

Kurt let out a sigh. "It's been a very hard mission," Kurt said, hoping to cushion the blow by giving them positive news first and knowing that it would never be enough to outweigh the loss. "We managed to do what we set out to. Apocalypse is gone, and we have all four of the Horsemen back."

Charlie watched Kurt carefully, halfway hanging onto Chloe despite how banged up her sister was from the fight. "We lost someone," she said softly, already picking up on his feelings.

Kurt met her gaze and nodded gently. He knew she had been teetering on the edge of becoming the girl he'd once seen in a future with Kate, curled up and unable to process anything. Her friends and family that had hidden away with her had done well keeping her spirits up, but he could absolutely see her losing her fine focus from his emotions alone. So, he did his best to steady himself as he explained, "There were Marauders everywhere."

"Was it Dad?" Charlie asked even softer.

Kurt shook his head. "No, but Scott is likely in surgery by now," Kurt admitted. "Hank said that he's suffered another heart attack."

Annie let her shoulders drop when she heard it. "They get more dangerous every time," she said quietly before she reached out to Kurt to stabilize herself.

Kurt nodded and took her elbow in his hand. "You should sit."

Annie gratefully let him take her to a chair, and both of the girls followed on her heels. Charlie kept her gaze locked onto Kurt, sure that there was more. He'd said that they'd lost someone, but his dread wasn't lessening after telling her Scott was in surgery. That meant the loss was personal. And she was already dreading it.

Kurt let out a sigh as he looked from one Summers woman to the next. "I am so deeply sorry, there is no way to ease into this," Kurt said quietly. "Cody was caught up with a Marauder."

Annie's head came up quickly, and her eyes were wide. "He's with Sinister?" she asked, so upset that she didn't bother not to say her name.

Kurt shook his head lightly, looking somehow more forlorn and wishing it had been that instead. "No, Chance and Elin found Cody. He was nonresponsive when they got there. It was too late for them to save him."

"No." Annie blinked at Kurt for a moment longer before her eyes welled up with tears and she simply let out a choked sort of sound, burying her face in her hands as she let her shoulders shake with the force of her sobs.

Kurt approached quickly and pulled Annie into a tight hug, expecting her to fight him or swear at him or _something_ , and he was prepared to take the rage however it came. "I am so very sorry, Annie."

"Don't," Annie said, whisper-quiet, her voice shaking with a quiet anger that was somehow worse than fighting or swearing.

"Tell me what you'd like me to do," Kurt said. "And I will do it."

Annie shook her head and then looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes shining and her face wet. "How did you come back?" she said in a fierce whisper.

Kurt blinked at her for a moment, shocked not at the question, exactly … more to the fact that she'd never asked it sooner. "I … shouldn't have been able to. It was an accident." He broke her gaze as he let his tone drop to a whisper. "I traded my soul and my place in heaven to stop my father from taking over heaven. I was never supposed to end up here."

Annie had heard the basics of the story surrounding Azazel simply out of necessity when he'd been bothering their family, but she'd always treated the personal aspects with respect for his privacy. So she obviously hadn't been expecting that answer. And having grown up very, very Baptist, it wasn't something she was willing to ask for her own son.

But that just meant she was left grasping for something, anything, to claw back against the hole in her heart. And finding nothing, she let out a terrible sound from the back of her throat and fell apart all over again - until Chloe came over to sit with Annie, crying hard enough to match her mother but still trying to help when she couldn't get a response from her big sister. Charlie… Charlie had simply tucked her knees up underneath her chin and hid her face behind her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs as she was shaking crying.

"I'm sure that if you feel like you can manage it, Chance will be waking up soon, and he shouldn't be alone," Kurt said. "Elin is sitting in vigil waiting to see if Logan, K, _or_ James will wake up."

Annie picked her head up, and for a moment, Kurt saw the look of open devastation there. "We can't lose anyone else," she whispered. "We _can't_."

"The doctors are working as hard as they can," Kurt promised. "But even under the best conditions, those three in particular are incredibly hard to treat."

Annie looked like she might say something sharp and angry, but when Chloe took a stuttering breath through her own sobs on Annie's shoulder, the retort died, and she closed her eyes. "We should be together," she said at last, her eyes still shut. "Let me see my son."

He nodded and offered her his hand, deciding that she didn't need to walk the distance through all of those sterile halls. When they reappeared in Chance's room, Kurt held a chair out for Annie to sit down. "I'm sure Elin will be around as soon as she can."

Annie nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly, though she didn't sit in the chair and instead climbed up beside Chance and laid his head in her lap like she always did when he was sick, one hand in his hair and one on his shoulder - and Kurt left to get the other two Summers women so that they weren't alone either, bringing them to Chance's room so the family could be together and mourn together.


	14. The Ones You Leave Behind

While everyone was settled in to watch over the various people that had come back in dire straits, the kids and non-fighters had been slowly trickling into the vast facility that Stark had opened up for them. And while Sadie and Malin were fairly _okay_ with Howard Stark showing them around and flirting quietly with Sadie, John … was not impressed.

At all.

The little guy had had his fill of his sisters. And Annie. And the Wagners … and … pretty much everyone that had been snuggling and making over him. He'd had enough of all of them - and since his parents had been gone since the beginning of this mess constantly fighting against Apocalypse for what had to feel like an eternity to the tiny boy, all he really wanted was Mom and Dad. Or at the very least, Elin. Just … someone he hadn't seen.

But still, it took some time for Lisbet to realize that he wasn't going to go along with _anything._ He was tired. Exhausted, really. He kept burying his face in her shoulder by his hands, but he flat out _refused_ to go to sleep. She sang all of the same songs that her sister did to relax the little guy, but he was simply being stubborn. "I don't know who to blame for this," Lisbet said to the little boy before she kissed the top of his head. She paced the floor and waited. But as soon as she found Jubilee on her feet and looking for her husband, she was sure to register her complaints.

"John needs someone in the family," Lisbet said. "And apparently, he's had enough of me."

"K and Logan are in no shape right now," Jubilee replied, but then paused. "I can maybe get Elin, though … she was pretty worn out last time I saw her … and there isn't anything we can do for them except what we're already doing." She chewed on her lip and nodded to herself. "I'll be right back," Jubilee promised before she rushed off back toward the medical area was.

Elin was a mess. She clearly needed a break from watching the three sets of monitors with wide eyes, anxious at the numbers and the fact that all three of them were just … _nothing was changing_. For any of them. Hank had set all of them up with a means to feed them while they were out, and he was pushing fluids on all three to try and jumpstart some serious healing, but it was still early and the three of them had obviously burned out their abilities.

"Hey. Take a little break," Jubilee suggested when she came over and took a seat on the other side of Elin - though Noh hadn't moved an inch from when he'd first sat down, and Jubilee fully intended to take Elin's place snuggling Noh, since she was still reeling herself and had only just woken up. "John apparently hates Lisbet now. Every time she tries to shush him or cuddle him, she's getting slapped in the face. So you know ... "

"Probably just worn out," Elin said quietly.

"I've got these guys - and I will reach out for you the instant anything changes. Just … keep your mind open, okay?"

Elin looked over to both her parents and her brother then slowly got up, feeling far more weary than she'd expected. "Promise?" she asked, and though Noh smiled at her, Jubilee nodded seriously. Elin crossed over to give all three of her unconscious family members a quick kiss, though for James, she bit her lip and frowned before she kissed her fingers and rested them on his cheek before heading out.

When she finally found John and Lisbet, she almost let out a sigh. Jubilee wasn't exaggerating in the least. John was whining and rubbing his eyes - and slapping the crap out of Lisbet when she tried to settle him. She was allowed to hold him, but it was clear to Elin that was only because he was too little to do more than what he already was. "I've got him," she said as she reached for her baby brother.

John fought both of them at first until he _saw_ that it was Elin and then he snuggled into her neck and grabbed a handful of her hair to hang onto. He was still miserable, but after she got him to stop crying, Lisbet showed her where she could try to get him to relax.

Elin took her baby brother to a quiet area of the compound and curled up on the bed, humming his favorite lullaby as she did so. It was only then, after they'd laid down, that John let out a huge, drawn out, hitching yawn and very nearly passed out on the spot with his hand on his big sister's neck.

To her surprise, Elin wasn't too far behind him either. As soon as the little boy passed out, she found her eyes were incredibly heavy, and she turned her head so that she was very nearly kissing his forehead and fell asleep with her littlest brother snuggled in tight while she worried about her biggest little brother.

* * *

There was still the matter of the other three Horsemen, of course. None of the others had been cleared yet, and all things considered, they were still being held in separate rooms under lock and key and strict supervision until it was clear they were free of Apocalypse's influence and under their own steam.

That didn't make waiting any easier for those closest to them, though. While Storm and Forge more or less knew the score, and Sying's family had known going in what the nanites would do, Rachel Wright didn't have any experience with this kind of thing, and it was clear she wanted someone to answer for it.

She'd managed to corner Tony to harangue him in the halls once she arrived with the others from the hidden away cottage, and she got right up in his face with her index finger leveled at him. "I want to see my daughter," she insisted. "And I want to know what happened to her so I can even _start_ to help her."

Tony held up both hands and tried to calm her. "I understand, I do, but all you can do is _see_ her. As in through the glass. It's not safe yet otherwise, and if I'm understanding this right, you're not going to be able to do much to help until the X-group has done their thing to clear out the _monster_ that had taken over her mind."

"She's my little girl," Rachel said. "I'm going to see her."

"I know," Tony said, resting one hand on her shoulder. "And I can take you to _see._ But I have to warn you, the 'job' that she had wasn't very kind to her."

"Kurt explained the basic concept, yes," Rachel said in an irritated tone.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't explain the more important details," Tony said as he gestured for her to follow him - and to emphasize his point, he was sure to lead her past the two skeletal ferals on the way.

It was enough to get Rachel to pause in her fury as she looked toward Logan and K. "What happened to them?"

"Leslie Ann," Tony said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Rachel's eyes widened, and she fell silent, letting Tony lead the way as she digested that information, though before they got to the room, Tony paused to talk to her once more.

"I'll warn you right now, she had no qualms about sucking the actual life force out of tons of people - and K and Logan to round it out. It isn't _safe_ for anyone to go into that room with her yet." He pointed to the locks outside the door. "Those are not going to let anyone in. Not any individual. And those that are authorized need to go in pairs. Stay as long as you like, but don't even try it."

Rachel nodded, a sort of steely glint to her gaze as she stepped up to the glass, though on seeing her daughter looking positively _sick_ , with dark circles under her eyes and a yellow-green pallor to her skin, she covered her mouth with one hand and turned to face Tony. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked in barely a whisper.

Tony held his breath and turned to look for himself again. "From what I've been told by the experts? She should be. Yes."

"Is it… normal… for her to be so…"

"Honey, nothing about this is normal."

Rachel held her breath for a moment, then rested her hand against the glass as she stared at Leslie Ann. "Can you tell me … anything? I don't know enough to know what to _ask_."

"Right now? No. Dr. McCoy is the one that knows the most about this, and he's in surgery, as I'm sure you know," Tony said. "If I knew, I'd tell you. You have to know that."

Rachel nodded slowly. "I know," she said, then shook her head and looked for a seat. "It's just that - that's my little girl. And to be able to see her and not help…"

Tony nodded as he brought her a chair from around the corner. "Yeah. That's kind of the name of the game right now. Every parent to one of the four … well, three, technically speaking, if we're talking about knowledge … you're all in the same boat."

Rachel frowned at that. "What about the fourth?"

Tony gestured back the way they came. "Logan and K were like that before James got … how he is. He was the third gurney by the two of them. So you know."

"Oh." Rachel stared at her daughter on the other side of the glass for a moment longer before she sank into the chair and let her head rest in her hands.

Tony let out a breath and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'll make sure Anton finds his way to sit with you."

"Thank you," she said softly.

* * *

Krissy's parents were both busy - Kurt had been bringing people into the hideout and Kate was helping to patch up anyone that wasn't seriously hurt while balancing an overly affectionate Chelsea, who had clearly missed her mom. So Krissy had been left to her own devices - but she didn't know where to _go_.

She wanted to find Sying, but again, she didn't know where he was, so after asking Steve where she could find Jubilee or Noh, she made her way deeper into the medical wing - stopping in her tracks when she saw how _bad_ Logan, K, and James looked.

It felt like nothing had gone _right_ for weeks now, and seeing them like that…. Krissy simply started to cry, with both hands over her mouth.

"Oh, hey, no no," Jubilee said, hopping to her feet before she headed right for Krissy, not about to let her daughter-in-law fall into the same despair as everyone else when she herself was finally starting to pull her emotions together after a good, long snuggle with Noh. "They're not dead yet!"

Krissy threw her arms around Jubilee and started to cry harder, though, gasping out, "It's just not fair," somehow through her sobs, though she only managed about a word at a time.

"Hey, we can't spank everyone every time," Jubilee told her, hugging her tightly, sounding much lighter than she felt. "Even if they totally deserve it."

Krissy hugged Jubilee tightly for a while longer until she finally managed to get a hold of herself enough to wipe her eyes, though she was still clearly upset. "Where - do you know where Sying is? Can I see him?"

"Yeah, sure, of course," Jubilee said. "You can go with Noh; he was going to head down there in a little bit anyhow." She ducked to catch Krissy's eye. "Hey, you can't freak out, okay?"

"I'm sorry; I can't - I'm just -" Krissy rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "I'm tired, and I don't want to do this on my own," she whispered.

"We're all here," Jubilee whispered back. "You're not alone."

"No, no, I…" Krissy shook her head lightly and wiped her eyes again. "No, I mean… I don't - I don't want to do this on my own," she said again, though this time, she gestured to herself, sure Jubilee would understand.

Jubilee frowned at her and pulled her head back a bit, obviously confused. "Are you sure you don't need a CT or something?"

Krissy shook her head miserably. "Unless they've got a scan for fixing up hormones, I'm stuck like this for a while."

At that, Jubilee's eyes widened, and she stared at her. "Wait, hold up. What?"

Krissy glanced up at Jubilee with a small smile. "Surprise?"

"Wait, no - really? How did you - when? How long have you known?"

"Um…" Krissy tucked her hair behind her ears. "I more or less found out when Logan benched me from the fight…. Back when Amadi and Leslie Ann took on the team…" She let her shoulders drop.

She spun to glare Logan's way but lost all of her fire when she looked at him. "Oooh, you better heal up fast so I can _hit you_ for not telling me!" Jubilee hissed Logan's way.

"Sying doesn't know," Krissy said quietly, her eyes welling up with tears again. "I didn't get to… I just want him back."

Jubilee let out a miserable noise and pulled her into a hug. "Yes, of course, he'll be back. We just … need Hank to get out of surgery and have a sandwich - or a dozen Twinkies or something - so that we can start up on the ex-horsemen."

Krissy snuggled into Jubilee for a good long while. "I'm just so tired of doing the single pregnant woman thing."

"Sweetheart, you are preaching to the leader of the choir," Jubilee said, almost rolling her eyes. "You know … I was alone for most of the time that I was carrying Sying. You can blame his father."

Krissy couldn't help but smile at that. "Want to come with me?"

"I need to be with Wolvie, K, and James," Jubilee said. "I promised Elin I'd stay with them."

Krissy nodded at that. "Alright." She gave Jubilee one more squeeze. "Thanks, Mom."

Jubilee kissed Krissy's forehead - complete with sound effects as she drew it out. "Love you - and congra-tu-laaaaa-tions!"

Krissy smiled at that. "When this is all over," she said, "we need to really celebrate."

"No kidding," she agreed before she pointed Krissy to the right direction. "Good luck - make Noh cry!"

Krissy giggled outright at that before she headed down the hall to find Noh, who was still nearby but deep in conversation with Reed Richards and Tony Stark about how to replace the corrupted nanites in Sying's system.

"Whatever you're doing, do it faster," Krissy said, poking her head into the conversation. "I need my husband back, okay?"

Reed looked up and gave her a kind smile. "That is the plan," he agreed.

Noh turned to pull her into a one-armed hug. "It's good to see you, Krissy. Don't worry - we are working as fast as we can."

"Well, can I see him while you do that?" Krissy asked, looking between the three older men. "I've been separated from him for weeks, and I'm kind of dying."

"Well, we can't have that," Tony said, gesturing to Noh. "Same rules as everyone else. Of course."

Noh nodded as he took Krissy under his arm and led her toward the room where Sying was - past Rachel and Anton waiting outside Leslie Ann's room - until they got to where Sying was still completely unconscious, switched "off" by the nanite command.

"How long is he going to stay like that?" Krissy asked quietly, almost hanging onto Noh's arm as she did so.

"Until we can come up with more elegant commands than simply 'stop'," Noh said. "Or until we can find a way to completely replace the nanites in his bloodstream." He let out a slow breath. "We could remove them entirely, but the process itself would be damaging, and to avoid long-lasting damage, it would be best for him to already have new nanites waiting to heal that damage," he admitted openly.

"Okay," Krissy said slowly, still staring at Sying. She hadn't actually gotten to see him in his full War regalia before, and he looked completely foreign to her in Apocalypse's red and white.

Noh rested a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. "This is only temporary," he promised. "Cable and Hope have promised to help with the mental side of things, and Hank will help as well, of course." He gestured to Sying's sleeping form. "Obviously, there are individual problems with each Horseman. But nothing we cannot overcome with time."

"How long, though?" Krissy asked, still hanging onto him as she watched Sying sleeping.

Noh rested a hand on the back of her head. "Not long, I'm sure," he said. "And when he's back to himself, I am sure he will be thrilled to see you too."

"I hope so," Krissy muttered. She glanced up at Noh for a moment before she let out a slow breath and rested her hand on her stomach. "You need to hurry up. If this takes too long, by the time he wakes up, I'm going to be _showing_ , and I don't want him to go into too much shock."

Noh stopped and turned to stare at her. "You…" He trailed off before he simply let out a delighted laugh and spun her in a hug. "That's wonderful news! The best I've heard in weeks!"

"Well, that's not a very high bar," Krissy pointed out, though she couldn't help but laugh as he spun her around and then set her back down.

Noh pulled her into another hug as soon as she was on her feet and then kissed the top of her head. "It's a very high bar. We ended Apocalypse and got all of our family back - but your news is marvelous!"

Krissy couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "You're going to be an amazing grandfather, clearly," she giggled.

"As if there was any doubt," Noh replied with a smirk. He rested both hands on her shoulders and looked at her more closely. "How are you feeling? Jubilee was horribly ill when it was her turn."

"I'm … actually pretty okay," Krissy promised. "It's still early."

"If you need anything at all…"

She grinned at him and wrapped him in another hug. "Thanks, Dad."

* * *

When Chance woke up in his room, it only took him a minute to realize that his mom and sisters knew what had happened, judging by the fact that Annie was still halfway folded on his bed holding his hand and Chloe had fallen asleep with her head on Charlie's lap.

But Charlie was just quietly staring at nothing with a devastated expression that never left her face.

Chance didn't know what to say to her; he knew he felt the same way. Before he could try to come up with something to say, Annie had noticed him stirring and sat up a bit before she pulled him into a tight hug.

He didn't hesitate to wrap her up in return, burying his face in her shoulder as the two of them held onto each other for support, though by that time, a lot of the crying had turned simply numb. Now, it was more a matter of reassuring each other that they were _there_.

Chance hadn't even thought to ask about his dad, since he sort of figured Scott was dealing with - well - whatever needed to be dealt with for Cody. So it wasn't until Hank arrived and Annie's head came up fast that he even had an inkling that something was up.

Hank looked grim, but considering all that he'd been fielding, that was to be expected. He didn't waste any time though, instead he simply put one hand on the foot of Chance's bed as he waited for the girls to be seated comfortably.

"The surgery itself was a success," Hank said. "Scott's cardiologist was involved, and she's sticking with him closely for the remainder of the evening - at least until he wakes up. He's in recovery now, but there was a problem in surgery that we very nearly missed."

Annie was almost holding her breath as she listened to every word. "What happened?" she whispered softly.

Hank turned toward Annie and met her gaze with apologetic smile. "It's a good thing that we had Doctor Strange around tonight."

"What does magic have to do with it?" Chloe asked with a scrunched up nose.

Hank shook his head. "I thought you knew, Doctor Strange is a real physician as well," Hank said. "With a specialty in neurosurgery." He turned back to Annie and took a moment to school his expression. "Scott had a mild stroke during surgery. It isn't entirely uncommon, and Strange truly was the very best person to have on hand. He was quick to address the issue, and he, too, is watching Scott closely."

Annie let her shoulders fall slightly as she watched Hank's expression. "But he's recovering?" she asked slowly.

"He is," Hank said before he allowed her a small smile. "Every indication we have is that our fearless leader will be back to himself soon enough, though I will be strongly advising him to step back from some of his self-appointed duties."

Annie managed to smile at him softly. "When can I see him?" she asked.

"If you don't mind a large quantity of monitors and a solemn environment, I can take you now - but only you. I'm afraid we might rile the other doctors if we descend on him en masse."

Annie paused and looked back at the three kids, though Chance was the one to make the decision for her. "I'll look after them," he promised.

"I'm sure it would be fine to let the others settle in for the evening in more comforting quarters," Hank suggested. "As I understand it, Howard Stark has been making sure everyone is close to family and friends. I can send Kaleb to show Chloe where the others their age are congregating."

"That would be nice," Chloe said, glancing toward Charlie, who still hadn't really responded to anything that was going on.

"Perhaps Charlie would like to assist Noh-Varr on his most recent project," Hank suggested. "He, Tony, and Reed Richards are making some serious headway - with input from Forge when he is not with Ororo and Amadi, of course."

Chance glanced toward Charlie and then nodded, slipping over to where the girls were to help Charlie to her feet. "C'mon, Charlie," Chance said. "Let's find some positivity."

Hank led the group out of the room and past the rest of the line up of injured heroes to the hall across from where the Wrights were waiting for news on Leslie Ann. "Just down that way, Chance," Hank said before he directed Annie to where Scott was.

Chance made sure to keep his arm tight around Charlie's shoulders, trying his best to inject some positivity into his thoughts that she could pick up on. He knew that she knew how to quiet down the outside emotions, but this had to be more than she'd ever felt - and she was devastated _herself_ too.

"We… we… we've got 'em all back, Charlie," he said. "And we… when this is all worked out… we should go on a double date. You take Gerry; I'll take Elin," he said, injecting as much cheer as he could into the thought, though it backfired when he ended up thinking of how the _last_ double date had gone, and he just let his shoulders drop again.

He was sure that nothing he was doing was having an effect on Charlie when she was still sort of blankly staring, so he just focused on getting her to the trio of men Hank had pointed out.

When they got to where the genius crew was excitedly talking, it was hard to miss how brightly optimistic the three of them were. Even for a non-empath. And when Tony noticed them, he grinned their way and waved them over - just as the other two paused and gave them both the same kind of bright smile. "We've got it figured out," Tony said, nearly giddy. "With a little luck, we'll have Sying evil-nanite free by this time tomorrow night."

"That's great news," Chance said with an honest smile, relieved to hear something positive, and Charlie nodded slowly - the first real sign of life he'd seen from her.

" _And_ , we've got the new nanites already in production," Reed added, looking almost cocky with his satisfied kind of smile, still working away even as they talked.

"Once that's sorted out, it's just down to Nate, right?" Chance asked.

"Nate and Hope," Tony said, then paused. "Maybe Rachel too."

Chance glanced at Charlie for a moment. "Where is Nate, anyway?" he asked.

"He'll be by in a little while," Noh said, working over Reed's shoulder.

"Can we stay here, then?" Chance asked, though he was already helping Charlie to sit down. "Charlie… needs some positivity. And you guys seem to have optimism, at least."

"Sure," Tony said. "I don't see why not."

"Thanks," Chance said, sitting down beside Charlie as the three geniuses went back to their quick and excited back and forth.

They didn't have to wait long as Nate and Hope came through the far doors at the end of the hallway, clearly deep in conversation even though neither was speaking.

"Nate!" Chance called out, getting to his feet to rush over to his big brother. "Nate, Charlie's a mess. You need to send her - I dunno. Somewhere positive. Please."

Nate paused and looked between Chance and Charlie for a moment. _Is it too much?_ He projected to Charlie.

Charlie glanced up at Nate and bit her lip before she nodded slowly. _It's too loud. I can't focus. The Horsemen are_ screaming _, and James doesn't even sound like James and - and-_

Nate stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't think she realized how significant it was that James' song had changed _that_ much, but he could look into that later. He already had his suspicions about James; she had only confirmed them. _Do you need help turning it off?_ he asked her gently.

 _Please,_ she said, her lip quivering.

Nate's eye glowed a bit brighter as he focused on her, switching off her abilities for the time being before he turned to Chance. "It's not going to solve anything if we just disappear for a while. It'd only be that much worse when we got back."

Chance let his shoulders drop before he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess," he said, though he clearly didn't like the answer - since it wasn't a _fix_.

"I think she can process her _own_ emotions alright now, though," Hope said quietly from behind Nate.

Charlie glanced over at Hope at that before she let out a little sound and simply wrapped her arms around Nate in a hug, burying her face in his chest. "Mom's a mess," she whispered to him. "Everyone is so upset, and my baby brother is gone, and-"

"It won't last forever," Nate promised. "And you should get some rest."

Charlie nodded but didn't move a muscle, simply hugging the stuffing out of Nate, while Chance mouthed out a 'thank you' over the top of her head.

"Both of you need to rest," Nate said to Chance.

"My sister-in-law sedated me?" Chance pointed out. "I've already rested."

"Then you have nowhere better to be than hanging out with Stark and Richards?" Hope asked, pulling a face.

"I was just trying to find some positivity for Charlie," Chance defended.

 _No wonder he and Elin took forever to get anywhere,_ Hope projected to Nate, which got a little snerk out of him.

"I'm okay now," Charlie said quietly, finally letting go of Nate to look at Chance.

"You sure?"

She nodded. "I'm… as okay as everyone else here, anyway," she said, glancing back toward where they had passed Logan and K.

Chance followed her gaze for a moment and then let out a breath. "Alright… but… if you need anything at all…"

"I know where to find you," she promised.

"Go on, get a bite to eat, make sure Howard isn't taking liberties with anyone," Tony said, smirking to himself as he got back to work.

"Yeah, speaking of…" Chance glanced toward Nate. "You seen Elin? She wasn't with her parents."

"She went to lie down," Hope said. "I'm sure that someone can tell you where she hid."

 _Want to just direct me?_ Chance projected her way with a winning smile. _Faster that way._

 _I thought that was cheating,_ Hope said, though she did clue him in on where to go.

 _Not when I'm already married to her,_ he pointed out, making sure to give Charlie a quick hug before he headed out.

_Would it bother you then to know she's not alone?_

Chance turned back Hope's way with a raised eyebrow look. _I know she's not fooling around, so what's the story?_

 _Someone needed comfort,_ Hope replied. _She fell asleep wrapped around him._

 _Yeah, that depends on who it is, honestly,_ Chance said, picking up a bit of pace as he went to go find Elin.

Hope had to chuckle to herself. _Good luck._

Chance was shaking his head to himself as he went down the hall, though when he did get to where Elin was wrapped up with John, he almost laughed. _Hope, you're hilarious,_ he projected loudly before he climbed into the bed behind Elin as carefully as he could, wrapping her up from behind as he did so.

Of course, she shifted as he settled in and looked over her shoulder for just a moment before snuggling back into her pillow. "I hate new places," she said softly.

"Sorry to hear you've been miserable without me," he said and kissed her cheek. "I had to take care of Charlie."

"Yeah, I was with my parents and James," she said, her tone definitely down.

He let out a slow breath before he finally settled on a way to at least get her mind off of that and grinned her way. "But hey… coming home to see my wife all curled up with a cute little boy…"

"You're hilarious. He's not yours. Sorry about that." She paused and shrugged. "Not mine either. He did slap the living daylights out of my Aunt Lisbet, though."

"Which means he's definitely your mom's," Chance said with a small smile before he laid his head back down on her shoulder.

"Did they say if James was improving yet?" she asked, turning slightly again to peek at him.

"I … don't know," Chance admitted. "I haven't been awake that long, and Charlie was having a moment. She got overwhelmed and couldn't function until Nate turned her powers off for her."

"James was in the bed near Mom and Dad," Elin told him.

"Oh." Chance frowned at that. "Well, I don't know how bad it was before…"

"He was all charred with adamantium shining up in places," she said.

"He still looks like that," Chance admitted. "I mean… maybe he's better and I just don't know?"

She shook her head lightly and let out a breath. "No, Jubilee would have said something." She was still for a moment before she cleared her throat. "Why don't you grab a blanket? I'm a little cold."

"Yeah, sure," he said quickly, getting up to the closet to find the blankets stashed up at the top and pull one down. "I know this isn't going to make you feel better about James, but the geniuses said they should have the evil nanites out of Sying by tomorrow night."

"Well, that's improvement," she said, nodding her head. "Krissy needs that. A lot."

"Yeah, I can't imagine…" Chance shook his head and pulled the blanket up over Elin's shoulders. "I only had a taste of that kind of separation and worry that week in Canada."

She shifted over, moving John with her to give Chance more room. "No, you didn't."

"No," Chance said with a sigh. "Different when you're married, that's for sure." He kissed her cheek. "So don't do that, huh?"

"Not what I meant," Elin said, shaking her head. "But I'll try not to, I guess." She rearranged the blanket so that John was covered up a little better, smirking to herself when he startled in his sleep and then relaxed back into his spot with a sigh, trying to rub his face on her.

"You haven't been up and around in the halls at all - or heard the rumors," Elin said.

"Rumors already?" Chance asked, scrunching up his nose. "That was fast."

"Well she _is_ Catholic," Elin said dryly.

At that, Chance let out a little laugh. "Yeah, but they're younger than _us_."

"Chance," Elin stopped and shook her head at him. "You think there's an age limit?"

"Well, no, but I…" He trailed off and peered at her a little closer. "They're not just rumors, are they?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head lightly. "Impatient little Elf."

At that, Chance just started to laugh and kissed her cheek, still smiling to himself. "Hope you're ready to be a great-aunt," he said.

"It's not up to me to prepare for those things," Elin pointed out. "They better be ready to be _parents._ "

"They'll be great. Have you ever met two people who have more positivity and love to give?" Chance pointed out, then paused. "I mean, when one of them isn't starting international incidents."

"Oh, we're going to bring international incidents into this? That just … screws up the whole system."

Chance rolled his eyes. "You knew what I meant," he said. "The actual embodiment of War, El. Come on."

"And my sweet, snuggly brother was the embodiment of Death. Clearly, there are problems with that system." She shook her head. "That wasn't Sying. He wasn't in his right mind."

"I know," Chance said. "I know that wasn't James. It wasn't Sying. It wasn't my big cousin or Storm's daughter." He paused. "And it wasn't Rachel, for a minute."

"So you _can't_ use that as part of the measuring stick," Elin said softly.

Chance let his shoulders drop and simply nuzzled into her hair. "Yes ma'am."

"If you think I'm gonna call you 'sir', you're out of your damn mind, Summers."

He picked his head up to smile at her. "Yes ma'am."

"You must not like me very much. Calling me old."

He just grinned a little wider at that. "Then I must be ancient."

"Cryptkeeper."

He smiled at her and simply nuzzled into her hair a little more. "Love you too."

"Uh-huh. You've had a wild run tonight. Troublemaker."

"You've had a crazy time too," he said.

"I sat in a chair by my parents and brother until I was informed that John had revolted against … everyone." She turned her head his way. "You … have had all kinds of crap going on. How is your mom?"

"She's with Dad," Chance said quietly, losing the good mood he'd managed to build from snuggling with her. "They said he had another heart attack… and then apparently stroked on the table."

She moved John over a little more so she could lie flatter, with him tucked into her side, but she could at least see Chance better. "Is he okay?"

"Hank says he's recovering, but I haven't seen him yet," Chance admitted. "Doc Strange had to step in. It was pretty bad."

"Is Tyler still working?"

"I think he's getting geared up to help Hank with the Horsemen tomorrow," Chance said. "But don't quote me on that - like I said, I just woke up a little while ago."

"No, that's more than they were willing to say when I was around," Elin said. "I was in the 'blackout zone' apparently. All conversation stopped when anyone got close."

"I have the advantage of several telepaths in the family."

She watched him carefully for a long moment before she pulled him closer for a kiss. "Do you even want to stay here with me right now? I know you have places to be."

"You're my wife," Chance said, meeting her gaze. "I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

"I had to give you the option," she defended.

He nodded and then pulled her into a kiss too. "Right now, you're the best, most constant thing I have. And I want to be that for you too."

"Then … pull up the blanket again and let's keep John company."

* * *

Annie had her fingers entwined with Scott's as she waited for him to wake up, and when he did, he gave her a slow, even smile, so he was clearly still heavily drugged.

"Hello, handsome," she said, pulling out a small smile as she squeezed his hand.

"Hey yourself," he said before he started to try to sit up - though that didn't work at all when she put her hand on his shoulder and he immediately sat back.

"You've been through a lot lately, Mr. Summers," she said, squeezing his hand and brushing back his hair.

Scott frowned for a moment as he tried to focus and then reached out to cup her cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, unable to remember through the haze of painkillers what exactly was wrong but knowing something _bad_ had happened.

Annie covered his hand with hers and leaned into it before she shook her head. "No."

Scott frowned at that and brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I'll fix it," he said.

Annie shook her head softly. "Alright, Scott," she said, smiling at him lightly. "Why don't you start by getting some rest?"

He watched her for a moment with his hand still resting on her cheek before he nodded slowly and let it drop to cover the hand she had on his arm as his eyes drifted, and it wasn't long before he was asleep again, and Annie was curled up beside him.


	15. Hearts And Minds

The next day, after everyone had at least tried to get a good rest, it was time to try to take on the Horsemen - and get rid of Apocalypse's hold on them. With three powerful telepaths - Rachel, Hope, and Nate - in one place, they were going to tackle all three at once, to shatter the bonds and make sure there were no ill effects.

It was simply by coincidence that they'd even discovered that there was an odd connection between the horsemen - and it was Rachel that had pointed it out as just a vague, odd tendril that seemed to reach out from James when she was going through and trying to clear his consciousness of whatever Apocalypse had done to him.

But it was enough that she was convinced anyhow that they needed to do a coordinated attack, and Nate didn't hesitate to agree.

All three of the remaining horsemen were being closely monitored, though, thankfully, the rooms that Stark had provided could do that remotely without having to actually risk anyone going in with the three former horsemen. They cleared the hall, sending Leslie Ann's parents, Jubilee, and Noh out of the area as Hope, Nate, and Rachel prepared for a vicious psychic battle.

Of course, it didn't _look_ vicious. Anyone not fighting on the psychic plane would have thought that the three of them were simply glaring hard at their respective targets. But having the hall cleared really helped to keep anyone from distracting them from what was truly very serious business.

And that was what it looked like. Tony, Reed, Hank, and Strange all stood at the far end of the hall observing the three telepaths as they glared, fists at their sides in deep focus for over an hour.

Rachel stepped into Amadi's mindscape and was instantly hit with gale-force winds. The young weather witch's mind was in turmoil, and that manifested in the weather around her. In fact, Rachel was sure she could see a funnel cloud - and she decided that was where she needed to be.

Pushing against the rain and sleet and hail, she forced her way toward the worst of the storm until she found its eye, where Amadi was suspended in the air, her eyes bright white.

Scenes of memories were playing out in the storm around them, but the one Rachel kept seeing, the one that had the most strength and didn't peter out in the rain, was one of James stabbing Remy and then manhandling her, pinning her down, _forcing_ her to come to Apocalypse.

There were other memories, too, of pain and terror and everything she and the other horsemen had endured at Apocalypse's hands for every failure they had. Amadi couldn't escape it. She was soaked in the storm of her own experiences.

"Amadi!" Rachel called out, one hand raised against the driving rain as she pushed closer to the little Goddess.

But Amadi either didn't hear Rachel or didn't want to pay her any heed. She had her hands over her head, as if she was shielding herself even as she let the storms rage. She couldn't stop.

Rachel frowned and then lifted off the ground, floating up to where Amadi was, though as soon as she was close enough for Amadi to register her presence, a wall of sleet rushed toward her. Rachel put up a psychic shield, but she still ended up soaked and cold.

Still, she had Amadi's attention.

Rachel threw both hands out from her center, disrupting some of the water temporarily and creating a path for her to get back to Amadi, stopping so that they were even with each other. "Amadi," Rachel said again, this time speaking gently, because she was finally close enough to hear the quiet, whimpering sobs coming from the young girl in front of her.

"Don't touch me," Amadi whispered, and the wind picked up around them as she tried to push Rachel away - though this time, Rachel didn't let her push her back, meeting her wind with a steely gaze as she held herself in place.

"I'm not going to touch you," Rachel said, still speaking softly, "but your parents are here, Amadi. Your dad has been helping get Sying back, but he checks in with you every chance he gets."

Amadi finally lowered her hands, and Rachel could see how red her eyes were. Her face was wet, but that was from the rain as well as her tears. "Dad?"

Rachel smiled and let her shoulders relax. As much as Amadi was like her mother with her powers, she had always followed her dad around like he hung the moon. "He probably misses his favorite lab assistant right now."

Amadi let out another sob, but she was starting to float toward the ground, with Rachel following her. When she touched down at last, the wind and rain followed suit, falling all at once until the air was eerily still. The storm wasn't over; it was simply hanging in the humid air.

Rachel took one step forward and then, when Amadi didn't flinch away, another, until she was close enough to touch Amadi but didn't reach out, instead holding her arms out in an open gesture so Amadi could be the one to make the move. "I'm sorry," Rachel said gently. "I know it hurts."

Amadi nodded wordlessly, looking up at Rachel with an expression that so sharply reminded Rachel how _young_ fifteen was to have been used up by Apocalypse like that that Rachel couldn't help but gasp in a breath.

Not one of these kids had deserved this.

"Come on," Rachel said, her hands still open. "I can help. So can your mom."

Amadi paused, and the rain started to fall again. "She can't help me," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "No one can stop this… this _pestilence_." Her eyes flashed with her power, and suddenly, the wind picked up again to nearly gale force. "I'll never stop feeling so sick. _No one_ can take it away."

Rachel sighed. She knew Amadi had fought her mom, and she'd been worried about bringing her up, but that didn't change the fact that she was disappointed to see Amadi reacting this way. "Of course she can," Rachel said patiently. "I'm a mom, remember? I know what it's like to have sick kids. I know there's _nothing_ I wouldn't do to comfort my kids when they don't feel good."

Amadi's eyes were still bright, but the winds had started to slow down. She didn't say anything, but Rachel recognized the expression on her face. She'd seen her own kids wear it, too: it was a kid in pain wanting someone to take it away.

Rachel waited wordlessly for Amadi to come down again, holding her hands outstretched. She waited for Amadi to come to her, and when she finally did, Rachel wrapped her in the warmest hug she could manage.

"Come on," she whispered. "Your parents are dying to hug you like this."

Amadi clutched onto Rachel for a good, long time before she finally whispered, "Okay."

The two of them left Amadi's mind together, and in the physical world, Rachel frowned when she saw that Amadi still looked sick. She had dark circles under her eyes and a hitch in her breath, even now that she was in control of her own mind. Rachel couldn't understand why she still _looked_ like a Horseman.

Still, when Amadi looked up at Rachel, she looked like the Amadi Rachel had been talking to in her mind, small and tired and sick and looking for her parents. So, Rachel projected to Ororo and Forge that all was clear for them to come in.

On hearing that they had a clear path, both Ororo and Forge rushed inside, and Amadi fell into her father's arms, with Ororo holding both of them to her tenderly. For the moment, it seemed Amadi trusted her dad more than her mom, but Rachel knew they would work that out soon enough. It was hard not to take it personally when you fought with your parents. Rachel knew that from experience.

Still, Amadi was exactly where she needed to be, so Rachel excused herself, stepping out of the room and leaning heavily against the door once it was closed behind her. Then and only then did she finally show how tired she felt. Fighting Apocalypse's influence hadn't been easy, even if she had done everything in her power to make it _look_ that way so that Amadi wouldn't lose hope and give up on trying at _all_.

She wished that she could say she was surprised when she looked beyond Amadi's room to the one-way glass windows for the other two Horsemen's rooms and saw that both Nate and Hope were still working with Sying and Leslie Ann. Those two were harder cases; they already had existing traumas Apocalypse had likely built on, whereas Apocalypse had to manufacture some for Amadi by trying to kill Remy in front of her and making James mishandle her.

Rachel hated to admit it, but she knew that Nate and Hope were giving her the easier target because she'd lost control. She was alright now, but she could still hear the Phoenix in the back of her mind and couldn't help but wonder if they were right to be cautious.

She'd never lost control before. Not like that.

She shook her head and straightened up, realizing that she had an audience. She held her head up as she gestured toward the other two rooms. "I won't step in unless they need it," she said softly to the gathered onlookers - which consisted of just about everyone on the short lists for seeing the other Horsemen first as well as the men working on Sying's nanites.

"You want to, I don't know, sit down or something?" Tony asked with an eyebrow raised. "I mean, you were just sitting…"

Rachel rolled her eyes at him and let her weight shift to one foot. "I know from this side it doesn't look like much," Rachel said. "But in their minds it's a different story. Amadi was going full weather witch in there - lightning and gales - she even had a tornado."

"I'll take your word for it."

She let out a scoff and lightly punched his shoulder. "It's not that different than when you get all excited about a bunch of ones and zeroes," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Now you're just trying to start something," Tony teased, though he gave her a little smile. "Let me know if you change your mind and _need_ something."

* * *

When Hope went into Sying's mind, she did so knowing that she had a ready-made trump card in her back pocket. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for Krissy if she didn't have to, but she wasn't above using it if it came down to it.

And her first impression of Sying's mindscape was that she might well need to use it.

Most of his memories were stained red with a rage that he couldn't seem to escape, as if everything that had happened to him up to that point was one injustice after another. Even the good memories of time spent with his family were tainted - especially the ones of Krissy and all the time she'd spent spurning him.

Hope frowned. She was going to have to break the spell of anger and resentment before she could bring up Krissy's good news. Otherwise, she could complicate things for both of them.

It actually took her some time to find Sying, too, because he seemed to be going from one source of anger to another. Just when she saw him pushing Andri'i away as the Shi'ar tried to kiss him while he was captive on Chandilar, he pushed _through_ his captor and through the door of that memory into another - this one of a facility in Siberia where they had him tied to a table giving him orders for a mission while a doctor pumped food into him through a tube, since he was wearing a mask that covered his nose and mouth.

Hope stepped toward the memory and then paused when she saw a green undercurrent, like a glowing trail of wires, feeding into his memories. She glanced back at Sying and decided she would find him again in the next awful memory he chose to linger in; she had a hunch that this green current would lead her somewhere.

The more she followed the current, the more Sying's mindscape shifted to whites and greens and blues, until she realized that there was a corner of his mind that was structured like Hala. It looked nothing like the rest of his mind, which was natural as memories flowed from one scene to the next with doors marking the way to the next section. This was a section of Hala, a city made of straight lines and pristine walkways.

Curious, Hope kept following the green undercurrent until she found where it stopped, right in the middle of the city - though the center of the Kree city was marred by what looked like an Egyptian obelisk.

This, Hope realized, had to be Apocalypse's influence. She simply wasn't sure what it was doing in the middle of a _Kree_ city.

As she approached the obelisk, some of the green energy flickered, like a power surge, and a holographic image of Apocalypse's head lit up at the obelisk.

Hope raised a single eyebrow. In this setting… En Sabah Nur almost looked like the _Supremor_.

She only thought about it for a second before it all made sense. She and her father had been to enough timelines that she knew _Noh_ had been engineered in a way that allowed his _handlers_ where he was from to step in and control him - and in this timeline, the Warden in the Cube had done just that - but she hadn't yet seen _Sying's_ mind in any visit to a timeline, not in any extensive way, that is. It made sense that he would have similar engineering to his dad.

The good news for Sying was that the controls in his head weren't _central_ , so even though Apocalypse had serious control over Sying's mind, Sying was still able to fight back - even now.

The bad news was that if Hope was going to get him back into his right mind, she'd have to get rid of the obelisk - or Sying would always have War in his head.

Hope raised her chin and squared up with the obelisk, starting to float in Sying's mind. But as soon as she started up her assault, the green energy that had been flowing from the control center released a mist full of whispers:

_The Kree are supreme. The Earth must suffer. Make them pay. Make them see their insignificance._

Hope shook her head. This was more than just Apocalypse's influence. This was a bastardization of the kind of Kree brainwashing Sying must have absorbed even living on Earth. His dad wasn't immune to it, and he was born with this control center bleeding Kree doctrine into his mind. Apocalypse must have been delighted to have such an _easy_ in.

With her eyes narrowed, Hope threw out both hands and dispersed the mist, floating closer to the obelisk until a holographic version of the full-bodied Apocalypse stepped out to meet her, looking smug and confident.

"Come to save the little Kree?" Apocalypse sneered. "You are nothing. Why would he follow _you_ when _I_ allow him to serve his purpose?"

Hope rolled her eyes. She'd heard this kind of thing before. "His purpose? If you're using the Kree way, you're nothing but a lowly Terran to him. Bow to the Kree Empire, En Sabah Nur. That's where you're leading him." As she spoke, she threw energy at him, and he stumbled back a step before he returned the favor. But he was only an echo of Apocalypse; he couldn't break her psychic shield.

Of course, the fight had drawn Sying's attention, and even though Hope was steadily pushing Apocalypse back, Sying rushed over to stand in defense of his master, planting himself between Hope and Apocalypse just as Hope was drawing back for a finishing blow.

Hope's eyes flashed. "Get out of the way, Sying."

"No."

Hope's hair was floating around her as she moved closer. "Get out of the way," she repeated, her voice echoing with power.

Sying responded to her display with one of his own, building up a black plasmoid rather than the colorful ones he used to make before he was War. He drew back and let out a Kree war cry, and Hope rushed toward him as well, confident in her ability to use this fight to her advantage.

Hope's power and Sying's plasmoid collided in a spectacular explosion that knocked them both back from each other. Sying might have been immune to the fires of war in the real world, but here, Hope could use the way he was lashing out and direct it. He was already doing damage to his own mind with his rage and terror and hurt - might as well send that damage toward the obelisk instead of out into the rest of his mind.

Both Sying and Hope picked themselves up, and when Hope gestured toward Sying in a "come on" sign, Sying let out another cry and rushed forward. This time, however, Hope was better prepared for the explosion, setting up her shield so that Sying's rage was caught in her web and then shattered into smaller plasmoids that Hope then redirected at the obelisk along with her own sparks.

"No!" Sying scrambled toward the obelisk, but it was already falling, toppling in on itself with so many holes in it. And when it did finally fall, the holographic image of Apocalypse blinked out, too.

When the dust settled, Hope could still see green Kree energy leaking into Sying's mind from a gaping hole just waiting for someone else to install themselves in the control center - but that could be addressed some other time. For now, her focus was on Sying as he picked himself up, staring at the hole in obvious dismay, looking suddenly _lost_.

"Sying," Hope said, her tone gentle but wary.

"You… you shouldn't have done that." Sying's tone was dull; he was in pure shock.

"Why not?" Hope asked, trying to get him thinking on his own.

Sying frowned, still staring at the hole. "The… the Earth wronged me," he said, almost mechanically. "I'm Kree. I should raze it."

"You don't really believe that, though," Hope said, and Sying looked up at her with a confused frown.

"Of course I do," he said. "It's what I'm _supposed_ to do."

"So that's it? You're just going to listen to those instincts that someone _else_ put in you and burn down your _home_?" Hope shook her head and decided to play her trump card, at least a little,. "That's a helluva way to tell your wife you're done with her."

Sying looked like Hope had slapped him. "What?"

"This planet you're so willing to raze for whichever master you think you're serving - is it the Kree or Apocalypse, by the way?" Hope didn't give him time to answer, though he looked confused in the split second after the question. "You may have forgotten that it's _your_ home, but has _she_?"

Sying fumbled for words. "She…"

Hope crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.

At that, Sying let out a slow breath, his gaze drifting back to the hole in his mind. "Tell me what to do," he said softly.

But Hope shook her head. "No," she said. "You need to get back in the driver's seat. I know it's tempting, and I know it's how you were _engineered_ , but you don't need orders." When Sying looked lost but still nodded, she smirked. "Besides," she said. "You're going to want to be yourself when Krissy comes to say hi."

Sying finally smirked at that and nodded, getting to his feet when Hope offered him a hand up. Once he was steady, the two of them left his mind and came back to their senses in the room set aside for Sying - and were both alarmed to see that black sparks were still falling off of his fingertips.

Sying glanced up at Hope, his eyes wide. "That's not normal, right?" he asked in a breath.

She shook her head, frowning hard. He _should_ have been back to normal. She didn't know what had gone wrong. But he at least seemed to be in control of his mind again, so she said, "We'll figure it out."

* * *

While Hope and Rachel had dealt with very young and very traumatized kids, Nate had the harder battle. Leslie Ann had enough life experience behind her that she could have been fighting back, but instead, she was clinging to what Apocalypse had done, not because she'd _wanted_ it but because she was so overwhelmed with hunger that she'd gotten _used_ to her power.

"Don't," Leslie Ann said, the jungle of her mind churning beneath her feet as soon as Nate showed up. "You've come to tell me to let it go, right? Don't."

"Leslie Ann, you don't have a _choice_ ," Nate countered.

"Sure I do," she said, still standing in a vast tangle of vines. "It's this or go mad."

"Apocalypse is gone, and with him, those powers will fade. Let it go on your _own_ and it'll go easier for you." He held her gaze as he squared up with her. "But if you try to fight, you're only going to hurt yourself."

Leslie Ann narrowed her eyes before she sent the trees and the vines of the forest speeding toward Nate, her eyes flashing. The ground was still unsteady; that itself was telling to how little control she had of her own mind at that moment anyway. She'd already been rushing toward insanity trying to fill that aching pit Apocalypse had left her with; Nate was right. Having a fight in her mind wasn't helping.

Nate was quick to hover - avoiding most of the destruction Leslie Ann was doing to her own mind ."You need to stop," he said calmly, reaching out to forcibly settle the mindscape. He didn't like to use that card, but he also had his mother's patience - which meant that when things got this shaky, he went right to the heart of it quickly.

As his eye glowed brighter, the plantlife stilled and the ground shored itself up. He was simply following the tendrils of Apocalypse's influence as they wove through the grass and around every bit of plantlife in Leslie Ann's mind. And like any other invasive vine, he was yanking them out by the roots before they could strangle the life out of the trees and flowers that _should_ be there. "You can't sustain this on your own, Leslie Ann. Your parents and your sister are waiting for you to shake this off."

Leslie Ann stood on a patch of grass that grew like bamboo until she was standing even with Nate. "Of course I can't sustain it," she snapped back at him. " _Nothing_ works."

"You _can't_ keep draining people," Nate bellowed. "Try letting go of Apocalypse. _That_ will work."

"Do you think I care about _him_?" she shot back angrily. "I can't even think since he got in my head!"

"What do you care about then, Leslie Ann?" Nate asked with a harsh tone. "Because whatever you do give a damn about is going to be destroyed at the rate you're going."

"That's _life_ ," she said, shaking her head. "You want to bring back every friend I make in the X-Men? Jana? Neil? Look what happened to Amadi, and we were only just _starting_ to train together." She rose up higher. "I'm a destructive _force_ , Cable. Get out of my way."

"No, you're not," Nate said, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on her a little more than he had been. It wasn't that he was just getting started though … he'd already taken all the precautions and was prepared to stop _any_ counterattack she could come up with, and had looked into her thought processes to see what she'd like to do, too. And the instant that Leslie Ann made a move to try and get past Cable, he held out a hand and simply switched _everything_ that she had access to through her powers _off_. It was a quick move - one that effectively blockaded Apocalypse's influence from a constant flow down to a trickle, but even that had Nae frowning. It should have been like a switch. Not building dam.

Leslie Ann still had one hand out, but when nothing happened, she stared at Cable in shock. "What…?"

"I told you," Nate said. "It's _over_."

She started to shake her head without thinking about it. "You can't - you can't _do_ that!"

"Yes, I can," Nate said, perfectly composed once again. "And I did. You need to accept this sooner than later. For your own good."

"Give me my powers back!"

"No."

Leslie Ann let out a frustrated sound, but she couldn't reach Nate without her powers, and she was left fuming with no recourse. And she was _still_ furious when they left her mind - where Nate was able to see what the other two had: Apocalypse's changes hadn't faded.

When it was all over, Hank was frowning as well. He'd seen Apocalypse's influence released from those he loved enough to know that this wasn't right. His hands were clasped under his chin as he watched the monitors that showed the vital statistics for Sying, Amadi, and Leslie Ann. It was clear that he believed there to be something very wrong. It was less obvious with Amadi, who had already been a weather witch and who was clearly feeling better after Apocalypse was out of her head, and only slightly morseo with Leslie Ann because of the slight greenish tint to her veins that had started up the first time she drained the life out of someone. Though Sying's was the most obvious, black sparks still dripping from his fingers no matter how hard the alarmed young man seemed to be trying to keep them from doing just that.

"They shouldn't be this altered anymore," Hank said quietly. "The enhanced abilities should have fallen to the wayside as soon as Apocalypse found himself in pieces in the sand."

He let out a sigh and got up to head down the hall and peek in on how James was doing. He wasn't in a room like the other three were - mostly because Rachel had said she had burned out all of the areas of James' mind that were tainted by Apocalypse. But when he saw that finally, the young man was starting to shed back the charred, blackened portions of his skin, he decided he needed to take a few more precautions.

He stopped next to James' bed and started to readjust the monitors so they could travel with him, but he was sure to take the extra time to put the restraints onto James' wrists and ankles before he wheeled him down the hall to where the other four were. "If you don't mind, Mr. Stark, I believe we need an open room," he called out when Tony looked up with a frown. "Call it a hunch, or a bit of overthinking on my part, but I believe that something is severely amiss with our young friend."

"O-kay," Tony said slowly, keying in the code to open up a room so that Hank could bring James in - and Nate followed, already picking up on Hank's suspicions with one eyebrow raised.

"It would make sense," Hank said quietly to Nate. "That if En Sabbah Nur was going to use a backup, it would be the sensible upgrade to use someone that could take whatever damage was handed out."

Nate nodded. "Let me take a look," he said, not exactly telling Hank that this was why he and Hope had stuck around as well - not just to help with the Horsemen. Knowing what he did, it took almost no time at all before he nodded to himself and took a step back to look up at Hank. "Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "We're going to need a way to get into an adamantium skull to remove the spore."

Hank let out a little growl. "Oh, _that_ should be simple enough," he said in his most sarcastic tone.

"That's why he picked a healer - and gave him adamantium. _After_ the fact."

Hank had one hand on his hip as he looked down at the slowly healing young man. "Yes, well. I'd much prefer - as would his family - that we keep his head on his shoulders." After a long moment, he looked up at Nate wearing an expression of enlightenment. "Your Aunt Lorna. I can send one of the bamfs after her - unless you want to slip off to her yourself."

"I'll do it," Nate said. "Best to keep the circle small, all things considered."

While Nate was gone, Hank waved Tony closer. "If you could, please," he said clearly in a tone just over a whisper so as to keep the others calm. "It would be unwise to wait one moment longer than necessary, and James is in need of an operating room and for Doctor Strange to scrub in if we are to save the boy at all."

* * *

When Scott woke up much later, he felt a lot less foggy. And since this time, Annie was asleep, he decided not to wake her up as he tried very carefully to edge himself out of the bed - though to his frustration, he seemed to be having a hard time managing that. Getting the leads off and the IVs out he could do, as well as the cuffs around his ankles, but he was just too … _something_ to stand.

They must have hit him with more drugs than he realized. Not that he was prepared to take that as a proper deterrent.

Of course, his attempted escape didn't go unnoticed, and he was irritated to see someone come rushing in - though the fact that it wasn't Hank was strange in and of itself.

"What do you think you're doing?" Celia said as she sped up her approach from the hall, her heels clicking on the floor. She was wearing a determined look that Scott recognized well, but he was not used to seeing such severity directed at him.

Scott shook his head to himself as he put out a hand to try to steady himself. "I need to check on the others," he said. "Where's Hank?"

"Dr. McCoy is preoccupied at the moment," Celia replied shortly. "And you need your rest. You've had another heart attack and then some. Don't push for more so soon."

Scott frowned when he heard it but pushed the thought out of his mind. The last thing he remembered was being with Jubilee and Cody - but he could _not_ think about that right now when there were other considerations. "I'm not pushing for another heart attack; I just need to know what's going on," he said.

She crossed her arms and let out a breath. "Tell me who you want to know about and I'll tell you what I can. But you need to stay where you are before you hurt yourself."

"I need to check on the four - and I need to know if James is healing," Scott said. "I've been through this before; I can help the kids, and I need to talk to Leslie Ann."

"Not yet you can't," Celia replied. "But … the three have been purged by Cable, Hope, and Rachel. They will need therapy at this point - if you're going to be smart about it and send them in that direction. Which I would recommend."

"Great, then if they're through, I can talk to them," Scott reasoned.

"Not _yet_ ," Celia stressed. "If I need to, I'll pull your other doctors in here to explain, and if I have to restrain you, I will."

"I'm not going to sit here and do nothing," Scott insisted.

"You will sit there and _heal_ until you find out what you can physically handle," she replied with some heat.

"Just - at least get me some crutches so I can find my kids."

"I'll page Dr. Manning and Dr. Strange," Celia said, though Scott did a small double take on hearing Dr. Strange was involved - which was at least showing he was paying attention. She stayed in the door and handled it right from her phone. "You'll need to hear from both of them what you're _allowed to do_ for your _own_ health."

"I don't need either of them to tell me if I'm _allowed_ to find _my kids_ ," Scott shot back angrily.

She gave him a dry look. "The four are still in isolation. All of them."

"And what about _mine_?" Scott said. "I still don't know who - I need to talk to them."

"They can find _you._ They are all doing well," Celia said. "As I understand it, Chance is with his wife, Charlie is with Noh and Jubilee, and Chloe is with Sadie. Everyone is still asleep at this hour." She glanced down at her phone and frowned. "Dr. Manning will be by shortly. Dr. Strange … is not done yet."

"What now?"

"He's in surgery," she replied. "He'll be done when he's done."

"Who?" Scott asked, sitting up straighter and looking ready to bolt again.

She let out a sigh. "Can we at least wait for Dr. Manning before we get into this?"

"If one of my friends is in surgery _with Dr. Strange_ , I want to know about it."

"I need to check your blood pressure first. No one wants to see you have another issue." She stopped when she got next to him. "If I have to, I _will_ partially sedate you to take the edge off. Not enough to make you groggy, but enough to keep you calm. I will tell you what I know."

"That bad?" Scott asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Potentially," Celia replied as she double checked the monitors.

Scott leaned back and let Celia check his pressure, resting his head against the backboard for a long moment with his eyes closed. Stopping and slowing down just… wasn't an option for him. He _needed_ to stay busy.

She nodded to herself when she saw the readouts and then rested her hand on his arm. "You need something to help you take the edge off anyhow. You are worrying yourself on the possibilities."

"What I need is to get out of here," Scott told her. "I'm not of any use to anyone sitting here."

She gave him a look. "Are you a physician? A psychologist? Physical therapist perhaps?"

"Celia…"

"That's what we need right now," Celia said. "And if you're not one of those things and are in fact _in need_ of one of those things, there really isn't much you can do but to stay here where you can be properly attended to."

Scott let out a frustrated breath. "Fine."

She drew up a measure of a sedative and put it in the IV line. "I swear, this will only take the edge _down._ Not even off." She turned her head as his heart doctor came in and she quickly ran down what all had happened with him medically since last he was conscious and aware. Including the fact that there had been a stroke during his operation.

"You're really very lucky that you happened to have such a talented neurosurgeon standing around with nothing to do," Dr. Manning told him.

Scott nodded quietly as he listened to what she had to say before he let out a breath. "Alright. So when can I get moving?"

"Usually with anything involving the brain, you need to stay in bed for a few days. That's not a suggestion, Mr. Summers. If you like your grey matter where it is - take a break." She shrugged and gestured to him openly. "Your heart - that was not an open chest situation, so that you should heal from quicker. I'm sure your leg hurts from that though, and I would suggest keeping weight off of that leg until the vein is better healed."

Scott didn't bother to hide his frustration as he heard it, scrubbing both hands over his face before he looked back up at the doctor. "Alright. So. A couple days here and crutches after that."

"No crutches," she said, shaking her head. "I doubt you'll have the strength for it, honestly."

Scott stared at her for a moment. "Then…" He shook his head. "Alright. If you can get a chair - something I can move around in - how does that work with the bed rest?"

She nodded at that. "Two days, and I'll get you mobile somehow," she swore before she looked at Celia with a sigh. "I've also been informed that your entire _group_ doesn't respect Doctor-patient confidentiality, so … I'm going to step out of the room, and go back to looking over your latest blood tests."

By that time, Annie had started to sit up, she'd been awake since the two of them had raised their voices, so she'd heard all of what Dr. Manning had said, and she was sure to give Sarah a sleepy smile on her way past. "Thank you," she said, and Dr. Manning returned the smile before she left.

And of course, Scott didn't waste any time before he turned to Celia. "Alright. I'm not moving. Now will you tell me what's going on?"

Celia took a seat and folded her hands in her lap. "The Howletts have stabilized. The three horsemen still haven't lost their enhanced abilities - even though they had a psychic cleansing. And pretty much everyone else that was injured is stable, comfortable … and secure."

"Then who's in surgery?" Scott asked with a frown. "Is that something they think will help the horsemen?"

Celia thought carefully on how to present it, but she was already nodding. "Dr. McCoy and Cable came to a conclusion together. This surgery should fix the physical issues with the horsemen. And it's James who is in surgery. He started healing - and had gotten past the charred stage when they took him in."

Scott frowned as he thought it over. "James," he said slowly, then looked back up at Celia.

"Cable and Hope said that there is every indication that Apocalypse _wasn't_ going out of order in taking his Horsemen. They believe that James was supposed to be his failsafe and that he intended to possess James' body once he had killed off his consciousness. He was not necessarily intended to be Death. Not long term anyhow."

Scott swore under his breath and sat up a little straighter. "I should be there," he said - not necessarily trying to get up but just frustrated generally with the state of affairs.

"I'll make sure you can see him when he's out of surgery," Celia promised. "But you know that it's tricky at the best of times operating on one of them. This operation had to be rushed into before James regained _too much_ strength. I'm sure that Lorna will be by once she's done assisting."

"Yeah, alright," Scott said, leaning back into the pillows with a light frown.

"Thank you, Celia," Annie said, moving her chair so that she was closer to Scott again so that she could take his hand. "I'll take it from here."

Celia gave her a small smile at that and nodded, then headed out of the room, leaving the two Summerses to talk very quietly with each other.


	16. How Did We Get Here?

"Hey, Sying." Krissy poked her head into the room where Sying was still holed up with a small smile. Tony's rule that people had to go in pairs was still in place, just in case, so she'd decided to take both of Sying's parents in with her, and he looked honestly glad to see them.

"Krissy!" He grinned her way and got up to cross the space and lean over to give her a kiss, though for as long as they'd been separated, it wasn't nearly as involved as either of them would have liked when he was keeping his hands behind his back not just so he could be sure he didn't accidentally burn anyone but so he didn't have to look at the black sparks that were a constant reminder that someone else had taken control of him.

Still, it was _amazing_ to be able to see him again, and Krissy smiled as she brushed Sying's hair out of his face with one hand. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sying said, shaking his head as he gestured for them to sit down with him. When he sat, Krissy was able to see the black sparks falling from his hands, though the sparks didn't seem to bother or burn him.

She frowned watching the sparks dripping, because what she _wanted_ to do was take him by the hand and pull him into someplace private and make up for lost time and also let him know the news she'd been sitting on for _weeks_ now. But instead, she just leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Red really isn't your color, honey."

"Don't I know it," Sying said, shaking his head as he looked down at himself. He clenched his hands a bit before he looked up again, forcing his thoughts out of the spiral they were too often going down lately. "Are you okay? I don't remember seeing you in any of the fights _I_ was in, but-"

"No, no, I'm okay," Krissy promised quickly. "I mostly took care of Chelsea. Helped out with things on the home front."

"Really?" Sying raised both eyebrows as he turned her way.

"Not that I didn't want to come after you," Krissy said quickly, all in one breath as she reached out a hand and then remembered herself at the last second and rested it on his cheek instead. "It was tearing me up knowing you were being _used_ again, Sying."

At that, Sying's shoulders dropped, and he looked almost lost, "Yeah."

Krissy let out a little noise before she took him by the chin and pulled him into a long and not very polite kiss that went on for exactly as long as she wanted it to. When they finally did break apart, Sying looked less like he had been ready to fall into that sort of quiet malaise right before he ran off - and he was even grinning her way.

She watched him for a moment longer and pushed back his hair before she decided to just go ahead and tell him. It wasn't like she was any good at patience anyway, and he looked like he could really, _really_ use some good news at that point.

"I wasn't just helping with Chelsea, either," Krissy told him, still playing with his hair as he leaned into her touch, and it occurred to her watching him that he probably hadn't had anything in the way of positive human contact for weeks now, too. She gave him another quick kiss until the thought made its way back around to _fixing_ the situation and giving him something happy to hold onto and then bit her lip. "I was benched from day one in the fight, Sying. You know how your grandpa can be about letting pregnant women fight."

Sying blinked at her for a moment - but that was all the time it took for it to sink in before he had leaned in to kiss her hard.

It was a long while before the kiss finally broke, and she couldn't stop grinning at him as he looked her over with a suddenly much more excited look on his face. "How far along are you?" he asked.

"Not very," she said. "If this was a normal pregnancy, Hank said I'd be due around mid-October."

Sying grinned outright at that. "That's a good month," he agreed.

"But it's a part-demon part-alien baby? So… she might come closer to _my_ birthday," Krissy teased.

"Oh, you've decided it's a girl?"

"Has to be," she said with a little smile. "And she'll look like you and know all the lyrics to every Beatles song ever written."

"And have your powers and beat me in every race as soon as she gets them."

"Oh, good, as long as we're on the same page," Krissy said with a little laugh as she pulled him into another long kiss, while Jubilee and Noh shared smiles. They'd been checking periodically on Sying, and this was the most responsive he'd been since he woke up. So, they were happy for multiple reasons as they watched the two soon-to-be parents.

Sying grinned at Krissy for a long time, but it didn't take long for the issue of his hands to make its way back to the forefront of his mind. His hands were at his sides now, inching toward Krissy on instinct even as he kept them far from her; he glanced down at his fingertips for a moment before he looked over to Jubilee and Noh with a much more urgent expression. "Did Hank - did anyone say if there's a way to just… make this stop?" he asked, clearly worried about it.

"They're working on it," Jubilee said with a smirk, then gave him a wink. "Right now, actually."

"Well, just… just tell me this will _go away_ before I miss out on something important like feeling her kick or something," Sying said, staring down at the black sparks.

"Inhibitor collar if nothing else," Jubilee said, nodding her head. "But that's probably not going to be the case."

"Good," Sying said, glancing over at Krissy again with an obviously excited smile. "I want to be able to hold her. Or him. Or them. Or whatever."

"Not to mention I need a solid hug from you still," Krissy agreed, and Sying nodded seriously before he leaned over to steal another kiss.

"And you feel okay?" Sying asked when the kiss broke. "You're not… super miserable?"

Krissy nodded quickly. "I'm alright," she promised. "I mean, I'm hungry, and I've probably cried four times today, but…"

"Yeah, okay, I'm definitely going to need a collar for future… everything until this is sorted out, because you _can't_ be crying by yourself, Krissy," Sying said, shaking his head at her.

"I'd prefer not to," she said with a small smile before she simply hugged him around the shoulders and kissed his cheek. "Love you too."

* * *

When Lorna came in to visit Scott, she looked almost like she'd run a marathon - wide-eyed and wearing scrubs still. But she didn't come alone; Doctor Strange was with her, in surgeon's garb, not at all the usual image of the man decked out in a cape and wearing the Eye of Agamotto.

"You really don't need to be this dramatic to get me to visit," Lorna said in a breath.

Scott gave her a dry look for that one. "How'd it go?"

Lorna looked up at Strange, who took only a second more to answer. "It went well. We removed the death spore that was resting nearly on top of his brain stem. Lorna sealed everything back up. The only thing that is giving me a bit of pause is that he doesn't seem to be healing at the accelerated rate right now, but … considering the severity of the surgery, and all of his other health concerns, it may just be overload."

"When can I see him?" Scott asked.

"He's in recovery right now," Strange said. "Once he's stabilized and we pull the sedation … probably a few hours. Maybe sooner if he burns the drugs out faster than that."

Scott nodded slowly. "And nobody's going to argue with me on going to see him, right?" he said.

Strange smirked. "Cable and Rachel are going through his mind to double check that everything is clean. So no, no one will argue you going to see him, though I can't guarantee that he _will_ wake up. That was a very dangerous surgery, even without factoring in the adamantium problem. Since we don't know if he's healing as he should, or if he _can_ , I will continue to monitor him as if he had no regenerative healing _at all_."

"Alright. Good." Scott leaned back with his arms crossed and let out a breath. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Strange said, then paused. "Your surgery went well too, even if you didn't bother to ask on your own benefit."

"And thank you for that too," Annie said with a smile his way, her eyes red from crying but her hand in Scott's. "I really appreciate it."

Strange gave her a little smile. "Then I'm glad I was available. It was certainly a simple enough thing compared to what I used to do."

"That's good to hear," Annie said.

"So I'll be back on my feet in no time," Scott said.

"You'll be back up and about," Strange said in a metered tone. "On your feet might be optimistic."

Scott looked up to meet Strange's gaze and then let out a little noise from the back of his throat before he looked down again. "Fine."

Annie sighed and squeezed his hand in hers. She knew it was killing him being stuck in bed. Hearing that his health could keep him down even longer wasn't helping him to move, to help, to do _anything_ but think of loss.

Her family has been far too hurt, and Annie could barely put one foot in front of the other to get herself to the kitchen. That was all she could do. She could feed herself and her family.

She hated that she couldn't do more.

* * *

It hadn't taken any time after James' surgery and the removal of the spore before the other three Horsemen felt the effects. It wasn't a slow drain of their powers - it was more like a switch had been thrown.

It was easiest to see with Sying, of course, when the black sparks stopped dripping off of his hands, though he did wait a few minutes longer just to be sure they wouldn't be coming back before he relaxed enough to run his hands down his face and hug his elbows, letting all his breath out in relief.

It wasn't quite as obvious for the other two - the sort of yellow tinge to Amadi's eyes disappeared and the greenish veins on Leslie Ann's face faded, but Leslie Ann was, understandably, reluctant to try and see if she really was clean. Obviously, both of her parents wanted to hug her, but the truth of the matter was that she was more than a little worried that it was a _bad_ idea and that she'd end up draining the life out of them.

So it wasn't until Hank had actually come into the room and explained, in general terms, what had happened, reassuring her that she was, in fact, clean of Apocalypse's influence, that Leslie Ann finally relaxed enough to let Anton and Rachel pull her into a hug between the two of them.

At the contact, though, Leslie Ann could feel that small urge in the back of her mind, the reminder of the intense hunger and the _need_ to fill it. It was almost a reflex at this point to reach for that power as soon as she was touching someone - but it wasn't there.

What _was_ there was a new sort of feeling - or, more accurately, feelings. She was flooded with them, all at once - fear and anger and resentment and self-doubt and hatred, all of it directed toward her. All of the lives that she'd snuffed out, those last moments of fear, all at once, until she found herself pushing back against her parents to get out of the embrace, absolutely terrified.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Rachel asked, her voice dripping with worry as well as pure hurt on her little girl's behalf.

Not that Leslie Ann could really explain what the problem was. Not when there was a good chunk of time - several long minutes - when she simply didn't know where or _who_ she was. The consequences of stealing life from thousands of people had been held at bay when she had that connection to Apocalypse, but now, without that vast emptiness pushing it back, everything came rushing in, the sort of semi-psychic feedback of a thousand last moments.

It was completely overwhelming, and Leslie Ann could hardly breathe - until, finally, she simply slumped to the floor, with both of her parents completely unsure of what had just happened and terrified that something had gone _wrong_.

Hope popped her head into the doorway and waved with her fingertips before stepping through the door. "Oh, hi there. Sorry … I didn't mean to alarm anyone, but she was projecting a nasty psychic feedback and I had to stop it."

Anton looked up at Hope and narrowed his eyes for a moment as Rachel knelt by Leslie Ann, running her hand through her daughter's hair. "What did you do?"

"I didn't hurt her; she's just sleeping," Hope said.

Anton crossed his arms over his chest. "How about you give me a straight answer on what's going on here?" he said.

"I thought that was pretty straightforward," Hope told him with a little frown. "But okay. Um … so, it _seems_ like in addition to taking life forces out of people to sustain herself, she was … sort of collecting some of her victims' feelings. Of course, she couldn't process that while she had Apocalypse's power surge, but now that his influence is gone, it's ... " She took a deep breath and looked at Leslie Ann. "It's all rushing in. Every single person. All of them."

Anton frowned as he turned toward his unconscious daughter, and Rachel just seemed to hold onto her a little tighter. "What do we do?" Rachel asked, her eyes shining.

"Well, she's going to need a lot of support," Hope said. "It's not too different from what telepaths feel when we first get our abilities, only … it's made worse when you take into account it's how that person felt while she was draining them. Lots of fear, anger … all kinds of negative things."

Rachel's shoulders dropped as she held onto Leslie Ann a little tighter, and Anton looked like he was barely holding himself back from hitting something. "Okay," he said through his teeth.

"Nate and I will be around for a while still," Hope promised. "And we'll do all we can to help her through this. But there's not really a guidebook for this kind of thing."

"No, there never is," Anton muttered.

Hope pulled up a chair and took a seat nearby. "If you don't mind, I'll just wait with you for her to wake up. And then I'll explain to her all that I can and see if I can help ease this transition." She didn't wait for an answer, instead just crossing her legs and folding her hands on her knees.

* * *

When Hank poked his head into Scott's room to let him know that everything was set so that he could visit James, he wasn't surprised to see that his old friend was quiet, unmoving. With Annie checking in on their girls, Scott had fallen into much the same mindset as Hank had seen the last time he'd lost family, simply staring at nothing.

Hank let out a breath and made his way into the room, bringing with him the temporary wheelchair that would help Scott get around until they could set him up with something a little more personalized - some of the resident geniuses already had thoughts. "James is still unconscious, but he's in recovery now. I can take you to see him, but it's not likely that he'll wake up any time soon. He's on pain medication, and he's healing much slower than usual, but I believe he is coming along."

Scott nodded slowly, tearing his gaze from the wall to Hank as he listened and seeming to straighten up a bit as well. "Alright," he said. "Let's get moving."

Hank gently helped Scott from the bed to the chair and led him down the hallways to where James was. "As I said, it's not likely he'll be waking up anytime soon, but you can stay as long as you like," Hank said.

"Thanks," Scott said, frowning as he took in the state of his godson.

James was unconscious, and his head was wrapped, which was expected. But it was pretty clear that he hadn't gotten beyond the still-red new skin stage, and he hadn't grown back any of his hair or eyebrows. At all. He was hooked up to every monitor known to man, with an oxygen mask in place, and as Hank kindly pointed out, painkillers were flowing almost freely in a steady drip.

Scott let out a breath as he rested his hand on James' wrist, though he didn't say anything, simply spending the time with James as he let the frustration on James' behalf show. The kid had done _nothing_ to deserve everything that had happened to him, and even though they'd killed Apocalypse, it didn't feel like enough to make up for everything James was suffering.

He sat there like that for a long while with nothing but the sounds of the monitors marking time and the steady, quick drip to watch as a means of echoing the monitors. Scott let out a breath and looked up to see that Hank hadn't yet returned. But, since James' condition wasn't changing, and there was no danger of him waking up spontaneously, Scott nodded to himself and decided to pay a visit to Logan and K and see how they were progressing, too.

He wheeled himself down to where the other two Howletts were healing and was pleasantly surprised to find that they did look much better - though obviously, that wasn't saying much when they had been so close to death the last time he saw them. They still looked worn and skinny, but the monitors were showing much better life signs, so that was something, at least.

Scott's timing couldn't have been better, either. He'd only been in their room for long enough to start honestly studying their monitors and mentally comparing them to where James was when Logan started to stir.

He didn't really say anything as he slowly woke up, obviously worn out from all the healing he'd had to do to get even this far.

Scott raised an eyebrow his way when he saw Logan wearily crack open one eye - half grimacing at the bright lights. "Welcome back."

"Wasn't out for that long, was I?" Logan asked, one eye still closed as he gave Scott and his transportation a hard once-over.

"Few days, anyhow," Scott admitted as he wheeled over to lower the lights.

Logan rubbed his hand over his face and started to sit up, though he didn't succeed at first, so he took to watching Scott while he built up enough steam to _move_. "Where the hell are we?" Logan asked, simply to break the silence. He only took a few moments to yank loose the tubing that was running around his head for oxygen when it was itching his nose before he started looking around the room. But he couldn't just _ignore_ Scott's condition. "What happened to you?"

"We're in one of Stark's facilities," Scott told him. "It's a temporary place to stay - so everyone that needed it could get the medical attention they needed."

Again, Logan gestured to Scott with one hand. "Didn't answer my other question, Slim."

Scott took in a deep breath and held it as he looked down at himself. "It's…" He let out the breath. "We lost Cody," he said quietly without raising his gaze or explaining anything further.

Logan froze and stared back at him for a long moment before he let his gaze fall to his hands. "What can I do?"

"There's… not much left to be done," Scott said in an almost flat tone. "Chance and Elin have been handling things - we were planning to do a service in Westchester once I could travel, and, well…" He gestured to himself.

"So we're going soon, then," Logan said.

"We don't have the school rebuilt yet," Scott said.

"Hasn't been long enough," Logan agreed with a nod before he glanced over to K. "I think we can set most everyone up. We got enough places tucked away."

"That's fine," Scott said. "Stark said we're welcome to this place as long as we need it, and James isn't exactly mobile yet."

"Why not?" Logan looked openly confused, which was when Scott remembered that Logan had missed _everything_ at the end of that fight.

Scott glanced up at Logan and let his frown deepen. "Rachel lost control," he said quietly.

Logan's eyebrows shot up. "She _what?"_ He shook his head and looked around the room once, just for something to focus on. "Is she okay?"

"She's with Bobby," Scott said. "James was beating him to death when she stepped in, and then when she saw how deep Apocalypse had his claws in James, she lost her temper," he said.

"How bad is it, Scott?"

"Bad enough he's still in the pinkish skin stages," Scott said. "No hair whatsoever."

Logan ran his hand over his face and let out all of his breath slow, though even Scott could hear the crackle in his lungs as he did so.

"There's something else you should know," Scott said slowly. "Apocalypse wasn't doing things out of order."

"The hell are you talking about?" Logan asked with a scowl.

"He left a spore in James' head," Scott said. "James wasn't just Death - he was a backup."

Logan stared at him for a long time before he shook his head slowly. "I … James tried to take me with him. I wasn't going to let that happen, but I figured it was to make an example out of a _failed_ servant - not ... " He looked over to Scott warily. "The spore …"

"It's gone now," Scott promised. "Strange and Lorna got involved. Nate checked him over thoroughly to make sure he was totally clear."

Logan was still holding his breath, though. "Is he healing?"

"Hank says he is, but it's slow," Scott said. "It's bad enough Tyler's even been able to do a little healing for him."

"Damn," Logan said. "Ty's been doin' too much."

"He's been eating enough to keep up with Thor, Annie tells me."

"Once K wakes up, we'll do what we can to catch up," Logan said, though he was still hung up on the fact that Tyler had been able to do anything for James.

"Annie will appreciate it," Scott said. "It's something to do."

The two of them sat there in relative silence for a long while. Logan had no idea where to start with the questions, and Scott had more or less said what he'd needed to. But it was just a kind of stillness until K started to move - and Logan didn't even attempt to hide his relief on seeing her rouse. It was enough to get Scott to look away for a moment in an effort to give them a little privacy.

"Hey, there's my girl," Logan said, turning toward K with a growing smile.

She turned her head his way echoing his expression without knowing it before she opened her eyes, then paused when she saw him. "Oh no … you look your age," she mumbled.

"Yeah, you too, gorgeous."

K picked her head up and gave Logan a slow, obvious once over. "You're not allowed to call him 'Slim' now," she said in a tired tone. "Hi, Scott. By the way."

"Hi, K," Scott said with a quiet wave.

"You look so _muscular_ , Scott. Impressive." K had to tease. "Mark your calendar; you've got him beat. By a _mile_."

"You're hilarious," Scott said, though a smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"That is _temporary_ ," Logan clarified, turning a little so he was up on his side to face her better.

"Oh, I hope so," she said, reaching up to fiddle with the oxygen tube; she pulled a spectacular face when she realized Hank had put in a feeding tube at some point.

"Gotta get a better look at you," Logan said, smiling crookedly at her. "Gorgeous as always but too skinny for my tastes."

"Like you have room to talk," K replied, smiling wider at him, though the sparkle that was returning to her gaze spoke all kinds of different trouble. "You look like you're more hair than man right now."

Logan let out a bark of a laugh that turned into a cough, though he was still chuckling and smiling at her through the little coughing fit. "You might just be right about that."

"I don't mind," she said, still smiling crookedly at him. "And we're small enough we can share a bed, right?" She turned to look at Scott. "You won't narc, will you?"

"He won't," Logan growled out. "Mostly because he's gotta tell us what's the story with Sying and the girls." He gave her a little look. "I'll tell you about James later."

"Oh, alright then," K replied before she turned her attention to Scott. "I'm listening. Maple sugar. Sweet girls … Go."

Scott shook his head and couldn't help but smirk at her. "Right now, we're just focused on recovery. It took a little longer than we expected to get Apocalypse's last hold over them _out_ , and they're dealing with the aftereffects now."

"So what do they need? Annie? Snuggles?" K asked, rearranging her pillow.

"Honestly, that's probably part of it," Scott admitted. "I know for a fact that none of them had any kind of positive human contact the entire time, and Leslie Ann in particular couldn't touch anyone at all without it being a drain." He frowned deeper. "And that in itself left psychic damage too."

"I'll get her," she said, nodding to herself. "She won't be able to tell me no."

"Sying is doing a little bit better just because Krissy's expecting," Scott said, and couldn't help the small smile.

K nodded. "Makes sense," she said. "And Amadi?"

"Amadi …" Scott let out a breath. "Neither of her parents have left her side, and Remy's been actively helping her to feel something other than self-blame over the disasters."

"So she's pretty covered," Logan said. "We'll do what we can for the other two."

"Tag team," K agreed.

"And when James wakes up," Scott said, pausing to look at both of them - but they had the right to know. He let out a breath. "He asked Rachel to finish him off when he was in the fire. And I doubt he's just going to leave that mindset behind just because he's been out for so long."

"Probably not," K had to admit, nodding, but not yet up to snuff on that yet. "We've been there. Might just be a part of … well. Everything."

"If he needs someone to talk to outside immediate family," Scott said, "I've been through this before. With Apocalypse."

"You know how this has worked before," Logan said. "No one knows what'll work until it does."

"I know, but I'm still going to offer anyway."

"Good," K said. "More people to be there, hopefully he'll get it through his head before he does something stupid."

Scott nodded at that and let out his breath. "You know everyone's keeping an eye on them. All of them. Hope's with Leslie Ann now, and I know Jubilee said they're watching Sying for panic attacks again, all things considered."

"That's not something I knew about," K said. "The whole future family thing."

"They're still around if you want to say hello," Scott said.

"Sure, I'll just trot right over," K said sarcastically.

"They'll probably be at the funeral; you can see them then."

She frowned at that, her nose scrunched up. "How much did we miss?"

Scott froze for an instant before he closed his eyes and let out a breath. He'd forgotten K hadn't heard, but he hated to say out loud that his son was gone. It was hard enough to face that reality without being constantly reminded of it. "You've only been out for a few days," he said, dropping his gaze. "But we found Cody after the fight."

"Scott," she said, pushing to sit up better and incidentally showing how clearly she wasn't ready to _move_. "I'm so sorry. Just … tell me who needs to be hunted down. I promise I'll make it hurt."

"As far as we can tell, it was just… part of the fight," Scott said without looking up. "The junior squad was keeping the Marauders off our backs, and he took a bad hit."

"Doesn't mean my offer isn't good," she said gently. "I … probably ought to get a milkshake or something before I start."

Scott smirked lightly and nodded. "Annie could use something to do."

"We'll put her to work," K promised.

Logan swung his legs over the bed, and it was just then that Scott really could see exactly how positively skeletal the two of them were - though as always, Logan wasn't letting anything like that slow him down. In short order, he'd made his way the short distance to K's bed - where she had wiggled over to make room for him. He took a moment to climb in with her, but he was wrapped half around her with the blanket pulled up before the monitors he'd stripped off really started to complain. Of course, Logan wasn't too worried about them, since he had already started kissing his wife.

"Don't know how long it's been, but it's been too long," Logan told her quietly, then pulled her as tightly as he was able, and after a moment, he took a deep breath and started to relay all that Scott had told him so that Scott wouldn't have to do it all over again. It was pretty clear to Logan that Scott was holding himself together with strings already, and Logan didn't want to make it worse. Especially since he still was avoiding admitting to him what had happened to put him in a wheelchair.

Scott still hung close by, though, sure that K might have questions, and he simply waited until she had processed everything. He was sure it was a lot to take in, after all.

K finally looked like she was ready to start crying at all of it before she turned to Scott. "Scott, are you okay? This had to be awful for you."

"I'm fine," Scott said.

"You're a liar. But a cute liar," she said. "And as soon as I polish off half of a cow, I'm going to come and find you and hug the living snot out of you. Fair warning."

"Well, at least I know it's coming," he said, shaking his head at her lightly. He looked between the two of them for a moment and nodded once. "Well, I'll let Annie know she has a project on her hands."

"It's not _that_ big of a project," K argued as Logan pulled her a little closer and tried to shush her.

"Tell me that when you look a little less skeletal," Scott told her with an eyebrow raised.

"This is all the rage in Paris," she muttered. "I just need to emphasize the dark circles under my eyes. Fake eyelashes…. Start smoking again… maybe start using heroin to blend in..."

"You know you're not getting out of the kitchen once Annie sees you until she thinks you're fed to the brim, right?" Scott said.

"So she hasn't seen us is what you're saying?" Logan said with a chuckle.

"She's been busy," Scott said simply.

"Let her stay busy then," Logan said. "She's on more important matters."

"She's the one who made sure the doctors had something to eat once they came out of multiple surgeries these past few days," Scott said with an undeniably proud sort of tone. After he had stabilized, she had seemed to steady herself and then disappeared to the kitchen. He'd been glad to see her find something to do - and proud of her strength.

"She should keep doing that, then," K said, nodding. "They don't know how to take care of themselves."

"No one needs surgery anymore, K. Things have died down." Scott shook his head. "I'll let her know you're coming. You both know you need to eat anyway." He paused and smirked. "And if you wait too long, you'll get it in bed."

"I … am very comfortable right now," K said as Logan nodded along with her.

"Then I'll let her know that too," Scott said, nodding once to both of them before he simply maneuvered himself out of the room to go find Annie with a small smirk in place. At least Logan and K were alright.

"Thanks, Scott," Logan called back.


	17. The Brink of Sanity

Tyler and Hank had finally reached a point where they could slow down a little bit. Most of their patients were ready to either stay where they were or move on to rest somewhere safe. But that didn't mean that the two of them were done. But of the two, Tyler had truly poured himself into fixing everything he could and even tried to fix a few things he knew going in were a long shot.

But it was the first time since Billy had shown up lost in his visions that Tyler could actually stop for a minute, and the full-body sensation of buzzing and falling at the same time had left him in a daze.

He'd just left the area where the horsemen were being kept, and he had to sit down in the quiet hall, his arms resting on top of his knees where he'd slid down the wall. As much as he wanted to help whoever he could, this … this last month or so had been absolute hell. The injuries that had piled up … none of them were simple cases. And every time he'd thought he'd worn himself out fixing one or another, someone else would come in on the brink of death, and Tyler found himself pushing harder to get there - to stop them from tumbling over the precipice into the other side.

He never imagined that he'd see so many of them so fast - or that they'd be in such rough shape.

He hadn't told anyone, but between cases, when he was too worn out to actually do anything, he'd gone in to check on Logan and K more than once. He couldn't do anything for them, but he could lay his hand on them and see if they had been improving. But it was just so slow … it had been hard to tell for sure until they took off in their recovery and woke up enough to eat.

He still had enough people he was watching over that he could help, so he was still worn out - and there wasn't enough space in his stomach to fuel up enough to put a dent in what he needed to build his energy.

He'd only been there for a little while, though he had no good marker for time anymore, when Tammy made her way over to check on him. She was as quiet as she knew how to be - cheating only a little when she levitated herself closer so he wouldn't hear footfalls.

"Hey, stranger," she said with a wry smile, then gently touched down and came to sit with him.

He looked up with a weary but warm smile that only grew warmer as he watched her curl into his side. "I was on my way up," Tyler said quietly. "You didn't have to come here."

"I had a feeling you might need me to come your way … just for how hard you've been working." She took his arm and leaned her head against him as she held on. "You've been so good since the whole start of this … look at all the superheroes you saved."

Tyler let out a snort of a laugh as he shifted to put his arm around her and pull her closer, though he didn't try too hard before he scooted her way instead, being particularly gentle with his pregnant wife. "Like a whole year's worth of work packed into a month." He sighed heavily and kissed her temple. "I'm looking forward to going home with you."

"Yeah, me too," she agreed, then didn't wait much longer than a moment or two before continuing her thoughts. "So … How much longer do you think it'll be before we can head home? I know construction's moving on the school - I keep hearing Mr. Stark talking about concrete and his army of contractors, so it can't be long for them here."

"Yeah, I don't know," Tyler admitted with a weary sigh that carried the weight of how worn he was when he thought of all of it. "I need to make sure that the ex-horsemen are all okay. Sying and Amadi I think are okay, physically anyhow … I'm worried about the other two."

"I think everyone is." She leaned in to redirect him with a kiss that lingered and went on more than they usually considered appropriate in a common area. "But you don't have a chance of healing anyone when you're this worn out. Let your dad keep an eye on things for a night. You know Gerry is dying to pitch in more. You need to rest. With me."

Tyler's smile stretched out slowly, then he looked down the hall. "I need to talk to Dad first-"

"No, you don't. I already talked to him while you were catnapping in the hall."

"Oh. We're into puns already, huh?"

Tammy nodded, her smile growing wider every second. "I can't help it. It's the influence of our sweet little Tristan trying to cheer up Jayce."

"That … I believe that," Tyler laughed, then turned with a little growl to pick her up as he got to his feet. "You said there was somewhere we could curl up that wasn't a hallway?"

"You're not hungry?"

"Didn't say that," Tyler said. "But I'm prioritizing … and you're always at the top of my list. Even if I might seem preoccupied dealing with super drama."

Hank, meanwhile, wasn't with any of the usual patients. Instead, Teddy had tracked him down, pulling him into the room where Billy was still out. They'd tried waking him up when Apocalypse died, but the galaxies weren't back, and Billy seemed to flicker in and out of seeing reality, so they'd let him sleep again until the death spore was gone. That, finally, seemed to break whatever lingering hold was left on the Horsemen, so it stood to reason that it would have an effect on Billy.

At least, that was what Teddy was hoping. He didn't want to admit out loud that he was terrified Apocalypse had done something far more permanent, like he'd done to Kitty. But if this didn't work, if Billy's stars weren't back… Teddy didn't know what he'd do.

He knew this was the last time they could try it and have a reasonable explanation for the missing stars. So now, Teddy was dreading what he'd see as Hank loaded up a stimulant for Billy. What would he even do if Billy was perpetually stuck in other realities?

It took a few minutes, but Billy finally started to stir. Just like the last time, when Tyler had turned off his powers back when this all started, he seemed wary, agitated, and outright scared, but Teddy didn't care about that part. The part he cared about was the stars.

They were back.

"Hey, handsome," Teddy said, every word dripping with relief that had Hank holding his breath and hoping the two of them could connect enough to ground Billy. He wasn't as easily convinced that their Wiccan was back just from the physical signs alone.

Especially since Billy simply turned Teddy's way and frowned, wordlessly holding his breath as if he was bracing himself for something terrible. And he probably was, considering the kinds of realities Apocalypse had likely shown him.

"Billy," Teddy said gently, "It's me. You're back. It's me." As he said it, he leaned in and kissed his husband, though when Billy pulled back slightly, he didn't push. Billy didn't… didn't do that.

Hank frowned and stepped forward. "Apocalypse is dead," he told Billy, trying to catch his gaze, even though Billy was looking around now as if he was waiting for something terrible to follow that statement. "His influence is gone. You're back home."

Billy was quiet for a far longer time than Teddy was comfortable with before, finally, he looked toward Teddy, searching his expression as the galaxies in his eyes finally started to move again, showing some life instead of a blank stare. His throat was dry from how long he'd been out as he quietly asked, "You can see me?"

Teddy nodded, grabbing Billy's hand in his. "You never left," he whispered. "You've been watching other worlds, but you never left."

Billy looked down at Teddy's hand, obviously trying to process the situation but not trusting it at all. "Sometimes I… sometimes I'm a participant. A ride along…." He looked up at Teddy again. "You can hear me?"

Teddy nodded wordlessly.

Billy was quiet again for a long time before he shifted his hand in Teddy's so he could hold it. "So, where did I end up?"

"Billy," Teddy said gently, "you never left. That's what we've been trying to tell you."

"I don't recognize anything," Billy said, sounding almost apologetic. "I'm sorry I'm not-"

"Oh!" Teddy shook his head quickly. "No, no, the mansion got leveled by Horsemen, and the Tower is totally compromised. This is one of Tony's hideouts."

"Oh." Billy looked around again, biting his lip as he thought it over. "...Sammy and Harry…?" he asked at last, tentatively.

"They're okay," Teddy promised. "They've been getting stuffed by the Hale sisters."

For some reason, that was the first thing Billy had smiled at. "That sounds like our reality."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Teddy said. "You're home. With me. You're okay."

Billy nodded, as if he was confirming the truth to himself, and then suddenly threw his arms around Teddy's shoulders, holding tightly to him. He wasn't crying or even trying to get a kiss - he just needed to know that his husband was there and was using Teddy like an anchor as he tried to cement himself into this reality.

So Teddy let him hang on for however long he needed it. "You're okay," he said into Billy's shoulder. "I got you."

Sying was sleeping on the floor again.

He was never aware of it when it happened, and he didn't like waking up curled in on himself on the ground, but for some reason, he kept defaulting to that position when he was upset. When it happened, he would always wake up thinking, in the brief moment before he was fully conscious, that he was about to see Andri'i or that he was going to receive orders from a weapons director.

But there he was, sleeping on the floor beside the cot in his room, his back to the wall.

Krissy's ears drooped when she saw the state of her husband, her heart breaking when she knew he must have been reliving any of the many traumas he'd been through. She had hoped to come visit him and lift his spirits now that the black sparks were gone, but now, she was almost afraid to approach him, knowing he still hadn't had much human interaction because of the sparks and knowing he could very well think he was being manhandled.

"Sying," she said softly, gently, hoping his enhanced hearing would pick up on her voice and he'd wake up that way.

Thankfully, it seemed Sying had been sleeping lightly anyway - probably because he didn't seem to feel safe enough to relax and sleep deeply - and he looked up at her and managed a small smile her way, even if he seemed dismayed to have woken up on the floor again. "Hey, pretty girl."

"Hey yourself," she said as she made her way over. "I came to invite you back to my place, if you're interested."

Sying raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's okay?"

She gestured to his hands. "Not like you're gonna hurt me if we curl up and sleep off all the crap that's happened lately."

He waved one spark-free hand and shook his head. "No, no, I get that. I just meant… I can leave? I mean, I thought I was supposed to stay in here." He paused, adding a bit too late, "You know. To be safe."

Krissy sighed and pulled him over so he was snuggled under her chin. "You're supposed to be with me," she said firmly. "And with us." She brought his hand over and put it on her stomach. She wasn't anywhere close to showing, but she wasn't above using that play all the same. "You're not War anymore, Sying."

"I know," he said softly. He kept his head under her chin and his hand on her stomach, breathing in sync with her until he added, still whispering, "It's hard to know what I'm supposed to do. It feels like… like when I had directives and orders, that was right, and being directionless…"

Krissy kissed the top of his head and ran her hand over his neck, shoulders, and back. "No one likes not knowing what's next."

"It's different, though," Sying tried to explain. "If I'd grown up in Dad's universe, I'd just be orders. Not much else. Right?" Krissy frowned and pulled back to look at him, and he met her gaze. "Kris, that's what it was like, and it felt good. What am I supposed to do with that?"

Krissy watched him, taking in the hurt and the fear in his eyes, before she leaned in to kiss him. "So, I guess, now we know you've got some programming in you like that. Think you can reprogram yourself to focus on being a dad, please?" She wasn't trying to make light of the situation, but she honestly didn't know how to help him. That sounded like a Noh problem. Or a Rachel problem. Or a Logan problem. She didn't know what else to do, so she'd just keep reminding him of the family he'd chosen for himself. "I need you," she admitted, unable to stop the tears in her eyes when pregnancy hormones were terrible things, really.

Sying bit his lip as he watched her and then nodded, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm here," he swore. "I'm here, I promise. I'm here."

Rachel and Anton Wright had never seen their daughter so withdrawn.

Leslie Ann had always been social and fearless. She had been the one to march up to Scott and call him "uncle" for the first time when he was dating Annie. She had talked Logan into a trip to Japan. She had been outspoken during her time with the Avengers. She had her brushes with depression because of the losses she'd suffered as a teenager, but nothing like this.

Even though she was allowed out of the room she'd initially been kept in, she stayed hidden in her new room, keeping to herself even when someone came to check on her. She hadn't been able to look Annie in the face at all - especially since she knew Cody had died, and she didn't want to see how hurt her aunt was when she'd been part of Apocalypse's team. She didn't talk to any of her friends from either team. And even Anton, who had always been her go-to when she'd been a daddy's girl her whole life, could only get a good hug out of her and not much in the way of conversation.

But even with as much time as she was spending in her room, she wasn't sleeping. Not when even exhaustion-fueled sleep resulted in nightmares that left her screaming.

Anton came in when he heard her yelling, but she wasn't fully aware of what was happening, even if she was awake. She was lost again in all the anger and fear of all the people she'd drained, and when that happened, she had no idea who or where she was.

"Oh, baby girl," Anton said in a sigh as he quickly crossed the room to wrap her in a hug. She kicked and hit him as soon as he did, but he didn't let her go until she calmed down enough to realize who was holding her - and that was enough to remind her which mind was hers in the sea of writhing emotions. It was a good thing Nate had temporarily blocked her access to her powers, too, because she could have done him even worse damage if she'd been able to pull wood into the fight.

All at once, she clung to her dad, hanging on as tightly as she would do when she was a kid. It always hurt when that psychic feedback hit. She was shaking and taking short breaths, but even when she had a hold of herself, she didn't feel better. She was tired and angry and hurt and bitter. Bitter that Apocalypse had done this to her, bitter that she couldn't sleep without remembering what she'd done at his orders, bitter that Nate had taken her powers, bitter that Thor had let her live.

That was always where she ended up, too. As far as she was concerned, she couldn't come back from all that had happened. She could still hear echoes of other people in her mind. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't function. This wasn't life.

She kept reliving the last moments of people's lives while she kept living. At least they weren't hurting anymore.

Her dad was rubbing circles in her back like he used to do when she was a kid and had nightmares about silly things like monsters in the closet, but she didn't relax. Not entirely. She was too exhausted to hide her anger, but she was too tired to do anything but seethe.

"Why don't I get you some hot chocolate," Anton offered at last. "You didn't hardly touch dinner."

That was putting it mildly. Leslie Ann hadn't eaten anything at all yesterday. She didn't want to. And if she was honest, she liked feeling empty, because it was almost like that chasm that had kept the feedback of her powers away from her. She wanted that again; she wanted not to have to think about anything but that hole.

Besides, what did it matter if she ate or not?

"I'm not hungry," Leslie Ann said, pulling back from him.

"Leslie Ann-"

"I'm not." She pushed her hand forward, an instinct that would have been deadlier if she'd had her powers. Instead, Anton only saw the palm of her hand pointed his way and watched as she realized she'd tried to attack him. He saw her expression shift, and he saw her shoulders drop until she reached around him to find her covers and pull them up over her shoulders. "I'm fine. Go to sleep, Dad."

"Baby girl," he said quietly, "you're not fine."

"It doesn't matter," Leslie Ann said, pulling her blankets in tighter.

"It matters to me," Anton said, resting a hand on her shoulder.

When it was clear, though, that Leslie Ann was determined to stay right there pretending to be asleep, Anton sighed and got to his feet. He was too upset to go back to sleep, so instead, he went for a walk in the halls.

He knew his daughter wasn't well. And he knew that she'd given up on herself. But he didn't know what else he could do. So he went for a walk to clear his head, not terribly surprised to see a few people here and there doing the same. Scott was bent over a newspaper with coffee, but Anton wasn't going to interrupt his thoughts. Not when he could see Scott wasn't really reading it. And Kaleb had fallen asleep on the couch with his arm around Sadie, though she was slipping out from underneath his arm without waking him. And at the other end of the common area, Bobby was sitting with a coffee cup watching the ice climb up the sides and then back down again.

Outside of Scott, Bobby was the closest thing to a familiar face Anton had, since they'd been together at the Chicago school for years. So, Anton got himself a mug and sat down by Bobby with a quiet, "Yeah, me too."

"I'll bet," Bobby agreed quietly. "How's she doing?"

"She's not," Anton admitted, frowning at the mug he hadn't drunk out of yet. "At all."

"Yeah. Rachel either."

Anton nodded, falling quiet until he had a drink of coffee. "She hasn't eaten that I've seen. Doesn't want to do anything. Even that."

"Pretty common complaint after being possessed by a megalomaniac," Bobby said dully. "Just keep trying. Anything anytime can be what gets her to snap out of it, and if she is really stubborn about it … well, there are things Hank can do for that, too."

"Yeah, I know. That's what's keeping me up."

"I'm sorry she's going through it," Bobby said, looking up at Anton finally, then started to absently trace designs in the frost on his mug. "If you think I might be able to help … just tell me what you want me to do."

"She did always look up to you," Anton said with an almost-smile.

"God only knows why."

"You said it, not me," Anton said, finally cracking a smirk.

"Someone had to," Bobby agreed with the tiniest smile.

"Maybe if you could get her to eat at breakfast..." Anton said slowly.

"I can bring her a snow cone," Bobby deadpanned.

Anton smirked. "Might be the only thing she'd eat."

"Why not now?" Bobby said before he upended his coffee cup to reveal the shell of coffee that had been iced up.

Anton gestured broadly. "Be my guest. Lord knows there's nothing else to do right now if you're not a telepath or a super genius around here."

Bobby nodded, got to his feet and then headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of cherry syrup, then headed down with Anton to see Leslie Ann. While Anton stayed out of sight, Bobby knocked on the doorframe and held up the syrup. "So. Um … I brought this for you. You look like you could use it."

Leslie Ann looked his way and then sat up with her blanket around her shoulders, one eyebrow raised. "O...kay…"

Bobby walked the rest of the way in and presented the bottle to her with a grin, until she finally reached out to take it with a look of suspicion. "It's good to see your vocabulary is improving."

She gave him a dry look for that one.

"So how do you want it?" Bobby asked, managing to get his expression under control. "Just … standard issue or high and fast?"

She shook her head at him. "I don't know. You pick."

Bobby let his shoulders drop before he picked up the glass of water on her bedside table and turned part of it into a snowball, then dropped it into her hands. "Just because you've had a rough week, I won't whip it at you." He gestured to the snowball. "Snow cone! See? Could have been an attack, but ..."

Leslie Ann looked between the snowball and Bobby and then snorted out a laugh she didn't mean to. "Cherry, really?"

"It was the first one I saw," Bobby promised as he sat down with her. "Next to a hideous-looking circus machine that I have no idea the purpose behind. But it's Stark's place, so who knows, really."

"He obviously forgot we have our own Sno Cone machine," Leslie Ann deadpanned.

"Oh, no," Bobby said, shaking his head. "I only give him snow cones that are high and fast. And aimed at his face."

She smirked again, shaking her head as she poured syrup on her snowball and handed the bottle to him. "Thanks."

"Any time," Bobby said, sitting back. "For the record, what do you like? Wheat grass? Green tea? Some other awful flavor that I can't even begin to imagine? Grape? If it's grape, I don't know if we can be friends."

She shrugged lightly. "Nothing, really. I'd rather be hungry."

Bobby let out a noise of disbelief then tossed a tiny, fluffy snowball at her. "Come on."

She flicked the snow off of her arm. "Really," she said.

"Really," he said, lobbing another one at her just to get her to react.

She instinctively held up a hand to stop the snowball and then glared at him, but when he simply met her gaze, she grit her teeth and tried to pull back the glare.

"Awww, come on. You almost smiled for a second there."

"I'm not really in the mood for a snowball fight, Bobby," she said tiredly.

"No one is when the snowball fights start," Bobby replied before he got frost climbing the walls. "But you're my fa-vorite."

She had to smile for that one, if only because he was so effectively turning the tables. "You're mine too," she said quietly.

"Because we're both amazing," Bobby said as he formed up another snowball, then whispered to her quietly, "I'll hit the next person who walks in that door in the face with this if you want. You can even put cherry syrup on it first."

Leslie Ann smirked and leaned back with her snow cone, carefully eating it as she sized up the door. "Tempting," she said, even as her stomach growled when she hadn't eaten in a while and it suddenly had food.

Instead of trying to start a real conversation, Bobby soaked his snowball with cherry syrup and then froze the whole thing a little harder to join her. He kept pace with her, nibbling on his frozen snowball at the same rate she was, letting her move things along.

Finally, she let out a slow sigh. "You probably have something better to do, you know."

"Not really, no," Bobby argued.

"What about Rachel?" she asked.

"Rachel is with the girls, I think they're braiding hair and eating popcorn." He smiled at her. "I didn't feel like the morning marathon of ponies or whatever. They hardly know I'm there when Mom's doing her thing anyhow."

"Oh. Well, good." She pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter.

"I'm not sure if that's a cue to lighten up on the frost … or make it worse."

"You probably don't want to freeze yourself in here," she pointed out. "With me."

"That is both ridiculous to assume that I could freeze myself anywhere and silly that I wouldn't want to do it with you. I mean … it's not like ninjas in Japan with some attention hogs, but I think I do alright with the fun."

"You do," she promised quickly. "I'm the problem, not you."

Bobby scrunched up his nose. "How?"

"Because I don't want to be here, that's why!" Leslie Ann said - with more heat and hurt than she meant to.

"Well … where do you want to be?" Bobby asked, ignoring how angry she'd gotten over such a simple question. He'd seen it all over the years. Several times over. "I can go with you."

Leslie Ann gestured with one hand, waving it as she tried to find the right words. "No, I just - I don't-"

"So you don't want to go anywhere with me," Bobby said, frowning as he nodded slowly. "Okay…"

"Don't take it personally. I don't want to go anywhere with anyone," she clarified.

"Well I didn't figure it would be today," Bobby said.

"Yeah, well." Leslie Ann sighed and pulled her knees up. "Thanks for coming, Bobby."

"So is that a raincheck?" Bobby asked.

"Tell you what," she said, "we can go somewhere if I ever feel like being again. You'll be first on my list for life experiences. Ice skating with Bobby or something."

"Yeah, alright," Bobby said. "But if you don't want to, you don't have to."

She smiled tightly. "I promise," she said quietly, "if you'd asked me before all this, I'd have my bags packed in a second. I just… can't. I can barely even think sometimes."

"You can't right now, I know," Bobby said. "I don't think anyone can right now. I'm just looking for something to look forward to, you know?"

She nodded quietly, then leaned over so she was almost touching his shoulder with hers. "You're a good friend."

"You too."

Amadi had been glad to get away from the other horsemen. She was beyond grateful for her parents support and loving gestures. They were the rocks she knew were always there to anchor her in the storm, but … it was still a little surprising to her that they were there after everything she'd done … after all the misery she'd caused around the world - they were still there for her.

Which was great. It was, but she couldn't hardly look at her mother without remembering the look of determined fury on her face as they'd fought in the clouds. Which led to Amadi quietly distancing herself from her mother.

It was a subtle move, but Amadi was having enough trouble with nightmares and little things that no one noticed that she was doing … like the little tic she now had stretching her fingers out before she tried to use her abilities. And she was desperately trying to avoid doing that, too. Something about reaching for the winds scared her now in a way that she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure when or if she'd ever try for lightning again.

Which Amadi knew, would sooner or later be a tip off to her mother when she wasn't doing any of the weather tricks they'd done for fun. But she couldn't even attempt it yet. At all.

So instead, she found solace in her father's workshop. It was easier to take things apart that Forge wanted disassembled for parts than it was to face her mother's legacy and he powerset she was born with. It reminded her of before she got her powers and long before she was …

Amadi shook her head at the thought and studiously went back to disassembling Shi'ar components. It was too much to think of how she'd become a horseman, because when she started to think of that, all she wanted to do was to fly away. And when the impulse to fly hit her, she started to panic because that would mean harnessing the winds, which she could not do. At all.

She popped the power source off of the next board and carefully set it aside. Watching her father work up new tech from scavenged parts was relaxing and distracted her from her own troubles as she tried to see things the way he did. Tried to understand how he could seamlessly shift from one problem to the next as he created his tools that would solve other problems as he worked on his tech.

It seemed less … emotional than working with the weather - more straightforward and with better rules in place. And for the first time since she'd learned she'd inherited her mother's powerset, she wished that she'd have been a technopath like her father instead.

Amadi barely realized that she'd set her tools down as she watched Forge work - his focus glued to the alien tech in front of him - wide eyed and with a perfectly open expression. The expression that said whatever he was looking at was 'talking' to him.

But that was something she had to work at. And when she thought about it, she didn't actually want to have anything to do with tech, either. Because if she worked on tech, then she'd most likely have to cross paths with Sying and James.

With a frown, Amadi pushed back from her workbench as she gently set the tools to the side. Suddenly, even working with her father wasn't something that she wanted to do, either, and she hated that she could think of no outlet to distract herself.

She almost made it to the door of the workshop before Forge called out to her. "Had enough of the shop?"

Amadi shrugged, unwilling to speak up and say why when she'd been so engaged just moments before.

Forge nodded and set his things down and got to his feet. "How about a movie then?" he offered, and for an instant, Amadi's heart was in her throat … she hadn't used the couch in the living room since they'd gotten to the school in LA. She could barely even walk into the room without seeing, hearing, and even feeling all that had happened when Remy had almost died. "We can go to the drive in down the coast."

Amadi didn't try to hide her relief. "Can we keep the top up on the car?" she asked quietly, since that was another point of contention … the wind.

She honestly wasn't expecting it when Forge smiled warmly. "Of course we can. In fact, I've even got a new mini jet we can use instead … hover above the crowd. Enclosed atmosphere … and your favorite snacks ready to go."

"Maybe that would be better," she agreed quietly, not mentioning the fact that she didn't want to feel the wind, smell the sea, or be anywhere near people. He probably knew anyhow.

She was glad her dad was around.

Nate had just gotten done checking in on his family when he made his way back through the labs. Everything seemed to be moving along at a good clip. Progress was being made in Stark's workshops, Richards' lab, and whatever the hell Noh-Varr referred to his ship as at any given moment. He was planning to check in on that progress, too, but before he could get past the last of the medical rooms, he caught sight of Hope, frowning as she rebounded a ball and half-glared at James, who was still out.

He should have woken up by that point, and both he and Hope knew it. The two of them shared a look, not even bothering to press forward with a telepathic conversation yet. Something was off and they couldn't afford for Apocalypse or any of his cronies to get a foothold again in this reality.

Watch my back, Nate told Hope as he took up a seat in the same room as James - but not so close as to be within reach.

Like with all of Logan's family, getting into James' mind was a little rockier than most people, but Nate had fully expected that much. What he hadn't expected was once he'd gotten through how little there was to see. After the initial push through James' natural mental defenses, Nate very nearly tripped on the psychic plane by how empty it was. There should have been something … a landscape perhaps, or rolling ground. Sying had a whole city, Amadi the world, and Leslie Ann a jungle but James …

For a long moment Nate simply took in the complete lack of anything. There wasn't even an echo. He'd expected the charred remains of James' psyche after having dealth with the Phoenix destroying Apocalypse in his mind … or maybe a landscape as subtle as a wrecked building with all the doors in his mind kicked in and broken. So it took Nate some time to come up with a way to deal with this. Especially when he realized he'd never actually taken a look in James' mind before Apocalypse had done damage.

He let out a heavy breath and started to search. There had to be some kind of indicator of what should have been there. Something that would show him that they could get the boy back. Something outside of a hard to penetrate defense. This … did not bode well for anyone invested in the kid, let alone the kid himself. He knew it was going to take some time if this was all he had to work with - and he knew well enough not to try and construct something without knowing what should be there, so he simply kept looking for anything at all.

He'd been looking for long enough that he was getting tired before he decided he'd have to look into Rachel's memory of what had once been there, though he didn't want to open up that can of worms with his little sister by being open about it.

When he backed out of James' mind, Hope was watching him warily - and Nate realized it was likely because she'd been peeking in on him as he worked. I'm not through yet.

Are you sure?

Very.

Alright, but … I only ask because -

I know. But I refuse to believe that this is over.

Because if it is, this is one of the bad timelines, Hope finished. But I thought the important thing here was getting rid of Apocalypse. That's been the case everywhere else. You just don't like the idea of this group getting hit again, but Dad … if he's gone, he's gone.

Nate looked openly frustrated as he shot Hope a look. Even if I can't find anything-

Have you ever met anyone that came back from that?

This family is different, Hope.

Not when it comes to having a consciousness.

I'm not done. I'll find something.

"I'll tell Annie we're staying longer then," Hope said in a sigh, though her tone made it perfectly clear that she thought her dad was wasting his time.

Nate nodded. "Do it when Dad's asleep, if you can."

"You're going to go to Rachel, aren't you?"

Nate turned her way and Hope held up both hands. "I need to work on this right now, Hope," Nate said. "It's already gone on for too long as it is."

"Fine. Good luck. I'll be back soon to try and help … if you need it."

"Just keep watching my back," Nate answered with half a smile. "And keep an eye out for Logan. He won't back off until he finds out why I'm here otherwise."

"Shouldn't he know ahead of time to prepare himself?"

"Absolutely … but only after I know for sure that this is all that's left. Which it's not."

Hope wrinkled her nose up. "I don't know if i like the whole 'optimism' look on you. It's weird."

"Go talk to Annie," Nate said as he made his way over to get closer to Rachel first. He didn't have time to get distracted when it was clear that James was rapidly running out of time. He didn't want to be the one to point out to his father or Logan what the dangers could be if they couldn't get the kid back into his own mind. Having a conversation with the Howletts, Kurt, and his father about destroying a near-immortal body with no active presence in its mind would be unpleasant to say the least.

Pointing out that James could end up playing host to a whole slew of dangerous villains would make his point, but … even with the threat of the Shadow King or Sinister, he knew that group would have a hard time making the call. It would destroy so many of them. His father included.

It was critical that Nate find some kind of sign in James' mind that showed there was a chance. He was deeply in thought when he came upon Rachel, still holding tight to Bobby and still partly lost in her own thoughts - so she wasn't expecting it when Nate barely said hello and then unceremoniously dove into his sister's mind. He vaguely muttered out a weak apology - more to Bobby than Rachel since he knew Rachel wasn't with it enough at this point to catch it properly.

But it had to be done. Now. As much as he wanted to go easy, the more he thought about the repercussions, the more Nate had no patience for dealing with losing another kid. And he was so much his mother's son.

He was only about halfway through when Rachel started to fight back. You can't just … storm my mind, Nate, Rachel projected as she turned to fight her brother on the psychic plane.

We don't have time for this, Rachel.

Of course we do! All you have to do is ask! What is it you're looking for that you don't want me to know abo- she cut herself off mid-thought when she realized that Nate was digging into her memories from before Apocalypse. Nate … you can't just …

I just need a peek at what he was like before.

Why? All at once, both of them were out of Rachels' mindscape and staring at each other with a concerned IceMan watching over them both. "What is it you're not telling me?" Rachel asked as she strengthened her defenses.

"Rachel-"

"No, we killed Apocalypse. We got the spore out of his head. The horsemen are on the mend. So what is it you're leaving out?" Rachel's tone was frantic in spite of herself, though the Phoenix was tightly locked up all the same. What did I do to him?

Nate's mouth tightened into a thin line that was so reminiscent of Scott that Rachel had to blink to keep from reacting more strongly to how much the two of them were looking alike these days. I just need to know what his mind was like before.

No … you know that … Rachel shook her head impatiently. His mind had changed. You know it had. His heart had been broken, Nate. I know we haven't really addressed it, but you know that would make a change to him.

I know.

And you know I burned out everything Apocalypse touched in his mind, Rachel started to say with a fair bit of bluster that tapered off to nothing as her eyes widened on remembering exactly how much of James' mind had been readied for Apocalypse. He's gone isn't he? James, I mean. I killed him.

Nate was already shaking his head. No, if he's gone it's because Apocalypse killed him.

Nate … it was him in the fire. If he's gone, that's on me. Rachel's inner voice was panicked, her stress increasing in severity as she ran through it in her head. Let me help.

"That might be for the best," Nate said. "Especially if I come up empty handed."

Rachel nodded, then took a moment to fill Bobby in on what he was missing of the conversation, though the more she told him, the more somber he got - which in and of itself as a severe indicator of how bad it was. "When do you want to start?" Rachel asked Nate.

"As soon as you can."

"Let's go," she agreed, then kissed Bobby before the two Summers siblings headed off to try again.


	18. A Time To Mourn

Just before the funeral for Cody was set to start, Logan and K made a point to take seats next to Annie and Scott. The surviving Summers kids were sitting behind their parents, and the two older ferals were determined to be right there for both of them. Scott and Annie were grasping each other's hands and staring at the grass in front of them, avoiding looking at the coffin and the flowers.

It was too familiar a scene with the team, but far more hard-hitting than any of the other deaths in the past if no other reason than the simple fact that Cody was only sixteen, and most of them had watched him grow into a formidable and _sweet_ young man with a promising future from the day he was born.

When Logan sat down, he put one hand on Annie's shoulder nearest him - just to let her know he was there - and K took Scott's arm and gave him a little squeeze before Kurt could get started.

The rest of the Hale family had shown up in force and were in their own degrees of shock and mourning. Annie's parents were shocked to the point of silent tears, while her sisters were doing their best to try and stop themselves from bawling - though they were losing that battle. Leslie Ann was an utter _wreck_. She almost hadn't come at all, but ultimately, she knew that she needed to be there. Even if the guilt of being part of Apocalypse's Horsemen was sending her deeper into a spiral, she would have felt worse if she hadn't come to pay her respects.

Charlie was less of a wreck than she could have been - though that was largely because she had latched onto Nate and was unashamedly using him as an anchor. Not that Nate was going to stop her. He had one arm around her as he kept half an eye on Scott in front of him. Rachel and Bobby were behind them with their kids, neither of whom could quite believe that Uncle Cody was gone.

Elin had taken her place with Chance, but his attention was torn, since John had decided that Chance needed a snuggle. It was one of the long-term variety that included lots of pats from John as he curled into Chance's shoulder - soothing him as best a small baby of his age could do.

It was always a hard thing for Kurt to speak for the team after a loss, though he was eloquent as he spoke about Cody's place in Heaven, even if those that were left behind felt that it had been too soon. However, he didn't quite make it all the way through the service before Annie let out a little sound that she couldn't quite stop and then buried her face into Scott's shoulder and stayed there until it was his turn to say something, though he couldn't quite find words.

"Cody…" He swallowed hard, wavered, and tried again. "...he…" He swallowed again, unable to finish - or even begin. So, he closed his eyes, with tears staining his collar, nodded once, and returned to his place beside Annie, leaving an empty quiet in his wake.

The silence spoke for him, for the immense loss and immense love of a father saying goodbye to his youngest son.

The gathered group waited for the Summers family first to throw a handful of dirt down before they quickly stepped back, and Scott wrapped Annie up tightly, hiding her face from everyone else so she could cry without worrying about anyone seeing her - not that she cared who saw her when she was mourning her _son_.

The rest of the group let the Summers family stay alone as long as they needed, heading back to where Tony had already arranged for everything to be taken care of so that the rest of the group could come together for a memorial. It was abundantly clear that Cody's parents and siblings couldn't pull themselves together - and couldn't be expected to - enough to be around people. They needed time and space.

Eventually, the Summerses made their way to the memorial, with Scott and Annie taking up the rear, though Nate had stayed with them so he could take care of pushing Scott so Annie didn't have to worry about that either.

John had continued to snuggle Chance, though when Charlie sat down beside her brother for a moment, he held his hands out to her and squirmed until he was falling toward her. She had no choice but to pick him up so he could snuggle her and give her little baby kisses. She couldn't stop the smile for him and snuggled him right back, kissing the side of his head as he patted her neck and babbled to her.

"Looks like someone's stealing my job," Gerry said as he came up beside Charlie. He made a move to put his arms around her, and when he leaned over, John started to paff him away much like he'd hit his Aunt Lisbet, clearly staking his claim. Charlie let out a small sort of laugh when she saw the look of territorial insistence on John's face and the total shock and amusement on Gerry's.

Hope laughed too as she leaned forward from behind where Charlie and Gerry were seated. "That's right, John. He _should_ step up his game," she said with a twinkle in her eyes that had Gerry looking even more affronted and earned another little laugh out of Charlie.

John gave her a little, subdued sort of smile before he shifted how he was snuggled and draped himself on Charlie's shoulder, melting right to the spot like a little rag doll - who would slap Gerry every single time he leaned closer.

Being the observant little elfling that he was, Kaleb had seen the instant cheering effect John had on Charlie, so he politely asked his mom if he could borrow Chelsea for a moment. Kate barely gave him more than a look and a kiss before handing her over, and in short time, Kaleb made his way over to where Chloe was sitting so he could try to do the same. Chelsea wasn't quite in the same snuggling mood that John was - but she was hilarious all the same as she leaned over to Chloe, perfectly wide-eyed and innocent, and then suddenly grabbed Chloe's nose.

"Nose!" she declared happily. "Na-Nose!"

Chloe was surprised into a laugh that had Kaleb grinning as he nodded at his little sister. "Oh yeah. You totally got her nose."

Chloe smiled at him as she pulled Chelsea into a hug and let the little girl squirm out of her lap so she could run off and go play with the bamfs - which was clearly the more interesting thing to do for her, not sitting and snuggling.

"You're really sweet, Kaleb," she said, reaching over to pull him into a hug that he returned much tighter than she had expected. He was so empathetic over the whole situation, he simply had to make sure that his favorite Summers was wrapped up and had someone to hold onto. Besides, he'd just been through a bamf funeral not that long ago, and while it wasn't the same as losing a _brother_ , he could relate to the full-body grief.

It seemed like most of the group was of similar mindsets, making sure that none of the members of the Summers or Hale groups were alone as the evening wore on, especially as the conversation turned to remembering Cody and telling a few stories.

Annie was probably most surprised, though, by Peter Quill, who was an emotional wreck of his own going through a second service like this so soon after Kitty. He made his way over to her and simply wrapped her up in the longest, warmest hug she had ever received from him, and before she knew it, the two of them were crying together.

K made her way over to Scott when she saw that Annie was well taken care of with Peter, and when she approached, she rested her hand on his shoulder until he looked her way, and just a moment later, she leaned in and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

At first, he simply returned the hug the way he'd done for everyone else, giving her a light squeeze without really putting much into it. But when she held on and kept hugging him tighter, he returned the hug a little better pulling K around the shoulders until something finally broke loose and she could feel his shoulders start to shake when he switched from hugging her to hanging on to her shoulders.

She barely shifted how she was holding him, but she didn't try to stop him in the least, instead making sure that she had him in a good grip, leaning into him almost as much as he was leaning into her to let him just … get it out, if he could. She knew he wasn't dealing with the loss well - or _at all_ \- but she also knew he would try to be brave for everyone else's sake, and she couldn't let him work himself into yet another heart episode. Or worse. So if he needed a literal shoulder to cry on, that was what she'd be.

When Scott finally let go of her and left his forehead on her shoulder, it was clear he was done, though not quite ready to move as he tried to get a hold of himself once more. She still waited there until he finally nodded, and when he did, she rested her hand on the back of his head long enough to give him a kiss on the temple. "I know."

He nodded again and then slowly straightened up. "Thank you."

"That's what I'm here for," she said with a little smirk. "So, do you want to get a little farther out of the center of the action?"

"That would be nice," he said quietly.

K nodded and stepped around to move him off to a much quieter spot where he could watch the crowd if he wanted, but clearly, it was a bit hidden from the group. "I'll bring Annie once she gets through. And I'll be keeping an eye out for you."

Scott nodded, though before she could leave, he put a hand on her arm. "Are you alright?"

"For now? Yes," she said with a nod. "You know how it is. I have something to _do_ while I wait to see if James is going to make it through as James."

He nodded at that. "We're going to start rebuilding soon."

"If you want to be close to supervise, Logan has a place not half an hour from there," K offered.

"I may just," Scott said. "I think Annie would like someplace private too."

"Well you know how he picks them," she said. "Private, quiet, and something nice to stare off at."

"Thanks, K."

She gave him a little smile and squeezed his hand before she turned back to the crowd, almost bracing herself before she stepped back into them. Across the way, the crying wreck that was Peter and Annie was finally starting to work itself out. She was able to gently direct Annie on where to find her husband before she went to find her own and watch the rest of the group.

"I told Scott about the cabin around the way," K said as she leaned against Logan.

"Good. He'll probably be alright there," Logan agreed, though he was watching just as closely as she was. He looked over to where Elin was and almost let out a groan when he saw how John was working over Chance again - and the simple fact that in spite of everything going on, Chance was loving it.

"You can't kill him," K said without looking where Logan was watching Chance.

"I know. It'd drop his dad," Logan muttered back in almost a resentful tone. "Damnit."

But Chance clearly hadn't noticed that there was an audience to his obvious baby face, playing with John with that same huge grin as he tickled him and made faces and rubbed noses with him, getting huge belly laughs out of the little guy every time.

"You're spoiling him," Elin said, shaking her head at the two of them.

"Hey, you're supposed to spoil babies," Chance pointed out as he grinned at John and got a huge gummy grin in return.

Elin shook her head lightly and leaned back. "You're a hopeless case."

"Yeah, I am," Chance said. He tickled John once more until John patted his hand away and snuggled him instead, and Chance leaned back with the little guy, resting his hand on the back of his head. He seemed to think about it for a moment before he looked Elin's way. "I'm not - I'm not saying right now," he said slowly. "But later… we need a boy."

"That is so not up to me," Elin pointed out.

"I know, but… but I want to have a little boy," Chance said quietly. "And you can pick the middle or the first name, but one of them needs to be Cody."

She tipped her head to the side just slightly before she leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Okay."

"It doesn't have to be right now," he said. "I'm still fine waiting until you're ready."

"That's good," she agreed. "But you're sweet - and when it happens, I'm on board for a Cody."

He nodded at that and then leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder, making sure to angle himself so John was still snuggled into his opposite side as the little guy started to drift off - clearly tired after all the playing.

"We should let him lay down," Elin suggested quietly. "I think you still need to give your grandparents some love."

Chance nodded at that. "Grandpa still remembers you, you know. Not your name, just… that I'm married."

"You're full of it," Elin deadpanned.

"You wanna bet?" Chance asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Depends on the stakes, baby face."

"Winner gets a backrub," he said.

"Yeah right. Like I don't know where _that_ leads," she chuckled. "But … I'm playing the numbers here so … okay. Let's bring John over to Mom and Dad, then. He's pretty serious about Dad snuggles right now, so you know."

"Hey, I feel you, little man," Chance said, smiling down at John for a moment. "Mine needs them pretty badly too." He shifted John and then headed over to Logan and K, gently handing over the little guy. "Worn out," he said with a smirk.

Logan reached out to take John, and for an instant, the little guy started to struggle until Logan let out a very low, soft growl, and almost like flipping a switch, John relaxed and snuggled into his father. "Thanks," Logan told him while John drifted off a moment or two later.

Chance couldn't help but grin before he took Elin's arm, and the two of them headed over to where Chance's grandparents were - though Chance told Elin to wait just out of sight as he went over to say hello.

"Hi, Grandpa," Chance said with a smile.

"Hello," Douglas said, matching Chance's smile for a moment. "Why don't you sit with me?"

Chance nodded as he sat down beside Douglas, though he wasn't surprised when Douglas seemed to be looking for someone.

"What happened to that girl of yours?" Douglas asked at last.

"Oh, she'll be around," Chance said with a small smirk.

Elin rolled her eyes and made her way over slowly, though she was sure to grab herself a bottle of water on the way before she stepped up and rested a hand on his shoulder, then kissed his cheek. "Not definitive enough," she whispered in his ear.

He smirked at her and turned to kiss her. "He asks about the pretty girl every time," he whispered low. "He remembers the wedding."

"You have rarely been without a pretty girl since you were twelve," she countered. "Nice try, though."

He tipped his head to the side. "Alright, fair. But you are _the_ pretty girl."

"You can't prove it," she replied.

"He can't remember names, El - that's just not helpful."

"I know," she said with a grin. "Which is why that was a crappy, unwinnable bet."

He shook his head at her before he leaned over to steal a kiss. "Yeah, but I love you anyway."

"He's treating you right, ain't he?" Douglas said, leaning forward with a smile.

"Yes, sir," Elin replied with a little nod.

"Well, good." Douglas leaned back. "Never seen a prettier bride. You make him work for it, missy."

Elin had to smile at that before she got up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Yes, sir, I will."

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I'm head over heels for her," Chance promised.

"Well, obviously," Douglas chuckled.

"Yeah, anyone can see it just looking at us," Chance agreed easily before he leaned over to steal a kiss from Elin and grinned crookedly just to get her to smirk at him.

"I should hope so," Elin said as she let him pull her closer and then leaned in when he put his arm around her back, watching the crowd as they milled about. "Or we're doing it all wrong."

Eventually, the crowd did break up, and everyone started to head their separate ways. There would be a push to rebuild the mansion the next day, but for now, they wanted to go somewhere safe, get some sleep, and start fresh in the morning. Having two funerals so close together was weighing on a lot of them, and that much was obvious in the quiet nature of the group as they all headed home.

While the group was breaking up, Peter Quill made it a point to go find the Howlett family before they could get too dispersed. "Hey, I - I wanted to talk to you guys," he said in a voice that was still shaky from having cried so much during the memorial. He had Nina and Jayce with him as well, who both rushed over to be with the kids their age while their parents talked.

"What's up?" K asked before she handed John to Charlie. "Something wrong - outside of everything?"

Peter shook his head lightly. "Not… wrong," he said, then looked toward the kids. "We're going back to space," he said at last. "Me and the kids. The Guardians said they'd love to get to know Nina and Jayce better, and I think…" He looked around the group and let out his breath. "I don't know how to go back to Chicago without her," he admitted quietly.

Logan nodded, though he didn't say anything as K let out a little 'oh' and then stepped over to wrap him up in a tight hug around the neck. "We'll miss you," she said. "Tell me you'll come back."

"Yeah, I'll make sure the kids get Christmases and stuff here," he promised as he hugged her back just as tightly. "Who knows? Maybe Jayce will be able to outfly your whole team if he decides to come back here."

"I get it," K said. "I do … I'm just going to hate to see you all so far away." She took his head in both of her hands and let out a sigh before she kissed his cheek.

He let out all his breath as well and then very quickly snagged her into an even tighter hug. "Yeah, love you too," he muttered.

K held on for a long time - letting him set the pace, as always - and when he finally let her go, she had to give him another quick kiss. "Don't be a stranger, space baby."

"Hey, could I possibly deprive my kids of Grammy K time?" he asked with a little smirk. "I'm not _heartless_."

"I hope not - but I also hope it's not just for the kids' sake. I want to see _you,_ mister," K said.

"I'll come with them," he promised.

Before Peter could quite walk away from them, Logan took a hold of his arm. " _Thank you_. For taking such good care of Kitty."

Peter looked surprised for a minute before he nodded lightly. "She meant everything to me," he told Logan honestly.

"I know," Logan replied quietly.

Peter nodded again and then cleared his throat and looked toward his kids. "I'll - I'll be back later. Probably Christmas. Doubt Jayce will be ready to come back here for the fall, but… we'll see." He tugged on his jacket and then nodded to himself. "And, uh, Rachel said she'd step in for the Chicago school to run the place, so I guess that's that."

Logan nodded at that. "She'll be a good fit."

"Got it in her genes," Peter agreed with a small smirk before he paused, squeezing Logan's shoulder. With a grim nod, he headed off to get Jayce and Nina before he could get too caught up in things again, leaving Logan watching Kitty's family go.


	19. Just A Shadow

After the first session of working on James with Nate, Rachel didn't speak for several hours … and it wasn't any better after the second or third sessions the next day or the day after that. The two Summerses were about to call it a day after the funeral for Cody when Rachel made a decision.

"Hope," she said, though she hadn't taken her focus off of James. "You should help too. I don't even know what we're looking for … but for as open as it is, maybe a fresh set of eyes or an extra person looking might help."

"Certainly can't hurt anything," Hope said under her breath, though Nate gave her a withering look.

The three telepaths took just a moment to decide on a plan of attack before once again diving into James' mind. As with every other time, the mindscape they found was entirely empty for as far as they could see. The three of them chose their directions and began to search.

Hope wasn't exactly positive from the very start, though she did as her dad asked and kept a watchful eye as they looked for …. Well, she still didn't know what.

Rachel was nearly frantic in her search, her energy buzzing more insistently the harder she looked and the more _nothing_ that she saw, feeling more and more guilty with every session.

So it was a stroke of luck that Nate spotted the fine trail of smoke on the distant horizon. It was miniscule - and so far in the distance that, for a moment, Nate wasn't sure he'd even seen it. But there it was all the same, and instead of being cautious and calling over Rachel and Hope, he went searching on his own.

He expected the smoke to get thicker or more prevalent the farther he went, but no matter how close he got, it was still the tiniest of wisps. And then Nate saw why.

The source of the smoke was a single photograph, and it wasn't even really on fire. It was just … slowly smoldering away. Nate carefully picked it up and pinched the embers out with his fingers, holding his breath as he did so, since it looked like this _one_ burnt up photo was all that was left in James' mind.

When he was sure he'd extinguished the fire, he turned the photo over in his hands to see if he could see what the photo was, but it was hard to tell on first inspection. The edges had eroded to the point that all that was left of the face in the photograph was half of James as he smiled up at the camera. Nate could barely make out the fact that behind him _had_ to be his parents if the swatch of plaid flannel to his left and the dark hair on his right were any indication. But it was hard to tell for how the surface of the picture had bubbled up from the heat of the fires.

And Nate honestly didn't know if _this_ was going to be enough for James to come back from.

He'd expected something more … organic, if he was being honest. He could have worked with something that had occurred in nature … or even if it was something technological, he could have done something with that, but this … this was just an object, and a singular one at that. It wasn't a photo album. It wasn't a collection or a hallway of framed photos that needed repair. It was just _one_ family photo that didn't even have enough of anyone to be able to say for sure how _old_ it was.

The longer Nate looked at it, the more upset he found himself to be. James was supposed to _have_ a future.

"If he's going to have a chance at all, you need to put that back where it belongs," Hope said from behind him, which had Nate turning to look at her.

"I thought you were of the mindset that this was a waste of time," Nate said, the scrap of burnt and bubbled photo still in his hand.

"I mean … I still don't have a lot of faith that he'll come back," Hope said, one arm across her stomach as she watched her dad carefully. "But … you did say this family was special."

Nate nodded and looked down at the photo again. "It should probably be at the center of his mind," he said thoughtfully. "We'll need to guard him against outside threats until we know for sure one way or another if he _can_ come back from this."

"What kind of threats are you thinking?" Hope asked, whisper quiet.

"There are only so many that would covet a mind this empty," Nate replied with a hard edge. "We can't let that happen. One of us needs to guard his mind and watch this photograph to see if there's a change. We can see if some of the other more powerful telepaths can pitch in, too."

"Oh, _yay_ ," Hope muttered, then turned in time to see Rachel as she caught up to them, though she looked more upset when she saw what Nate had found, her focus caught up on the crispy, torched edges.

"Don't panic," Nate said. "I'm going to determine where the center of his mind is - you call in our best telepaths."

Rachel forced herself to swallow down exactly the panic Nate told her not to do. "Right. Got it," she said, then took a hold of Hope's hand to leave Nate to his work. He was going to need focus to find the center of _nothing_ , after all - and she didn't know if she could handle looking at the damage she'd done.

As soon as they were out of James' mind, Rachel went to work, steadfastly ignoring Hope's look her way as well as the Phoenix in the back of her mind knocking on its box and trying to take advantage of how upset she was. She needed to _focus_ \- not just on her telepathic defenses but on fixing what she'd done. Because if she couldn't…

Well, she wasn't going to think about that. Not until she'd exhausted every _possible_ method to salvage James' mind.

She went down the list of the best telepaths she knew. Betsy, of course, was top of the list, but Jubilee as well - she was better than she thought she was, and honestly, she'd gotten pretty good since the twins got telepathy.

And… well… if she was going for powerful, talented telepaths…

Rachel composed the text and send it off quickly. And then went to find Bobby as she tried hard not to give in to the guilt and hopelessness creeping in on her.

* * *

"Oh. My. Gosh." Gwen Poole threw her arms out when she and Quentin Quire arrived at Tony's hidden sanctuary. "We're in this story too? _Who knew_?" She spun a small circle, grinning to herself. "This is a _great_ universe to be in. Way less drama. More babies, therefore, more cuteness." She paused, narrowed her eyes, and spun to point at Quentin. "That's not an invitation."

Quentin shook his head at her as he closed the door behind them and then nodded toward Betsy and Jubilee as they were talking together in the entryway. "Don't worry; the cavalry is here," he told the two women, immediately earning a huff out of Jubilee."As if you'll argue with it, sparkles."

"Didn't know you were bringing a date," Jubilee said sweetly. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. What did he tell you to convince you to come along?"

Gwen grinned widely. "There are very few words in this relationship. Or sometimes a lot of them all at once. And then none at all." She stuck her hand out at Jubilee, who was pulling a spectacular face. "Hi, by the way. I'm Gwen. Totally psyched to be intro'd in this story. Little late to the game, but that's how it is, y'know?"

"I've heard plenty," Jubilee said. "Um … wish it was better timing, but it would have to be awful to ask _Quentin_ to come _home_."

"Whatever," Quentin replied with a wave. "Just point me to what you people couldn't fix and get out of my way."

When Quentin strode forward, Gwen grinned and nudged Betsy on her way past. "Don't worry!" she said brightly. "He's got this."

And since neither Betsy nor Jubilee had much experience with Gwen to know how to handle her, they just shared a look and decided to try to get to where the telepaths in the Summers family were before Gwen and Quentin caused too much of a stir.

Except it wasn't Quentin making a scene at the moment. When the group with Quentin made their way down to where James was, it was pretty unnecessary to do any further explanation on what was wrong when they could easily hear Logan giving Nate a hard time.

"Cut the crap already," Logan was saying with a low rumble. "None of you have been straight with me about my kid since I got upright. Whatever it is you think you're gonna do, you need to _tell me_ about it."

"Logan, there's nothing to tell yet," Nate replied, though it was clear he didn't like being questioned when he was working on things.

"Yeah? Then why'd you find the worlds' most snot-nosed telepath to come sniffin' around if it's nothing?" When Nate narrowed his eyes and locked down his jaw, Logan gestured up at him. "Uh-huh. All hands on deck but you don't want to admit it. _Why_?"

"This is precautionary," Nate said, which had not only Logan calling him out with a look, but Quentin too.

"Okay, but even I don't believe that," Quentin said to Nate. "Your family really does _suck_ when it comes to open sharing of _anything,_ don't they?" But Quentin, being Quentin, didn't wait for Nate to find an explanation before he just … pushed his way into Nate's memory to see what the story was. When he was done, he turned fully toward Nate and set his glasses on the tip of his nose. "You need to tell him before there's a whole very ugly _thing_ that will be your fault for lack of _informing people._ I am honestly surprised your little wizard hasn't come and hit you with a newspaper or something."

"I could let Jeff bite him!" Gwen sang out, her hands clasped behind her back as she leaned forward with one foot kicked up behind her, looking like this would be the very height of entertainment.

"Jeff would take his upper half off entirely," Quentin said.

"They grow up so quickly," Gwen said wistfully.

"Tell you what, _Cable_ ," Quentin said as he stood between Nate and Logan. "I'll take the first shift just so I can see what kind of a train wreck you have on your hands while you _try to avoid another schism._ If I need a Summers escort, Rachel can give me the short version. Since no one but Summerses can have access to Howletts, apparently."

Logan didn't wait for any _normal_ indicator that would have been a tip off to a telepath doing exactly as Quentin had said he was going to do before he turned to Nate, arms crossed. "Yeah, you're not special, everyone gets that from him, so spill."

Nate looked entirely unamused by this turn of events, though he still gestured toward James with one hand. "We're rebuilding his mind," he said, seeing no reason not to be blunt when, at this point, the full truth was the only way to avoid more confrontation that would get in the way of getting things _done_. "The Phoenix burned out everything Apocalypse touched, and that was most of it."

Logan frowned as he thought it over. "How much was left?"

"Not much."

"Has he made any improvement?"

"Yes," Nate said firmly. "It's slow-going, which is why we called in help, but yes."

"Is it enough to give him something to come back from? And is that the _only_ reason you called in back up?" Logan asked, since a half truth still stunk.

Nate crossed his arms. "You know how dangerous an open mind is. An empty mind, in the process of rebuilding, is even more of an invitation to trouble."

Logan nodded at that and lost a bit of steam. "I want to be here if it goes south."

"We won't know for a while yet," Nate pointed out.

"Doesn't change what I'm askin' for."

"Fine."

Logan turned to leave, and on his way, he made a point to clap Quentin on the shoulder with a soft 'nice to see you, kid', knowing that Quentin had not only gotten to work already, but in his own way of doing things, Quentin was multitasking and watching _their_ interaction as well.

"I seriously do not understand how you can't communicate any better than a teenager," Quentin said to Nate before Logan was gone out of the lab entirely. "So what exactly do you want me to do here? You undersold it to the old man. There is _nothing_ to do."

"That photograph wasn't even recognizable when we found it. It's progress, even if it doesn't look like it. We just have to use Rachel's memory for the rest."

"Alright … but … Sinister isn't around _at all_ ," Quentin said. "And James is less likely to be a special needs case if you let him fix it on his own, so what's the danger? Is this an Avengers-level problem or some ridiculous moron that I haven't seen yet while I've been avoiding … all of this." He grinned widely. "Is there a polar opposite to the Phoenix? Is that what it is?"

"Oooh, are you tempting the writers?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide. "Are you - are you _tempting_ the wrath of the evil impulses?"

"I am," Quentin said, rolling his eyes as he waved her off. "Because the opposite of the Phoenix would be world- _creating,_ and last I checked, there are about four hundred Howletts already. I think they have it covered already."

Gwen held up a finger. "Ooh, hold up," she said, walking off somewhere they couldn't see, which only served to confuse everyone who had seen her seem to disappear.

"She does this all the time," Quentin said to Nate.

"But what is it she's doing?" Nate asked.

"I don't think you really want to know."

When Gwen returned a few minutes later, she was nodding her head a few times. "Okay, so first of all, there are in fact several hundred Howletts within a few generations, so that's a thing, but also? I saw the emails and chats and yeah, there are possibilities here."

"Gwen …" Quentin covered his eyes with one hand. "Please don't."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him. "Only 'cause you said 'please.'"

"Oh … kay then," Jubilee said, frowning. "I was going to ask if _you_ were mind controlled, but now I'm not sure what's happening. So … how about you and me take your Manic Panic'd horrible haircut and I'll fill you in on what you missed while you were being _so kind_ and watching over the student body for LA."

"Very Old Summers," Quentin said, looking over his glasses at Nate. "You can show Gwen around a little, can't you?"

"Please!" Gwen grinned at Nate and bounced over to grab on to one of his arms with a badly hidden 'ooooh'. "Where's your firing range? I wanna shoot that _big_ gun you have that's, like, the size of your super-arms."

"Do _not_ let her get near K's coffee," Quentin called out as he and Jubilee got situated on either side of James to get to work.

"Okay, but now I kinda want to," Hope said under her breath as she followed her dad and Gwen out of the medical area to give Quentin and Jubilee room to work. However, it wasn't long at all before she found herself smirking quietly as she picked up on her dad's thoughts - which for the first time that day weren't centered on James and Rachel and the fiasco there but were more along the lines of, _There's another Wade in this world?_

And while Hope was getting a show out of Gwen _gleefully_ bouncing around Nate very much like Deadpool always did, Quentin and Jubilee were left with a photograph and a lot of empty space. It was the first time Jubilee had actually _seen_ the state of James' mind, and she had one fist over her mouth as she turned in every direction as if something might show up all on its own.

Nate had told her what the story was, of course. But it was one thing to hear about this kind of thing and another thing entirely to stand in the nothingness and try to reconcile it with James, the brilliant, funny, prankster who looked _so_ much like his dad but acted like his mom and… and…

It wasn't _fair_. After everything - after Kitty and Cody and after _everything_ that James had been through with losing Vanessa and dealing with being Apocalypse's _slave_ \- it wasn't fair.

"So… so I guess we need to build some defenses, at least," Jubilee said at last, trying to blink out of her shock.

"Yes and no," Quentin said. "We need to seal things off so nothing gets _in_ and also keep close watch to be sure nothing already _has._ " He waved a hand Jubilee's way. "You can look for anything that shouldn't be here. There's no telling what this place _should_ look like, but I'm going to guess it's different than his parents by a stretch."

Jubilee nodded, holding her elbows as she scrunched her nose up. "Yeah, okay, I'll just… patrol the nothing, then."

"Jubilee," Quentin said, visibly taking his drama down a notch. "I'm going for the defenses because I think you probably know what should and shouldn't be here. I don't. You know him - I don't … and for as tempting as it is to reshape his mind the way _I_ would want to see it, the plan is to preserve _him_. I'm intrigued by a certified genius Howlett. Kindred spirit kind of thing - which makes me more reluctant to screw it up."

At that, Jubilee stopped, nodded, and let her breath out slowly. "Yeah. Thanks. It's just… I held him when he was born, okay? It's hard to see."

"All the more reason for you to be the one to try and keep _him_ as himself."

Jubilee nodded again. Then, just because she couldn't help it, she smiled his way. "So, you should totally keep Gwen around if she's made you such a _good_ person," she teased.

"First of all, she's been around for a long time already," Quentin said with one eyebrow raised. "And secondly, I am not. Stop that."

"Yeah, that's a big no, little buddy, don't think I can," she sang under her breath as she sat down with her legs crossed where the little photograph was. "But I know … you were a good person before. Wolvie said as much."

Quentin looked openly shocked to hear it as he tried to be patient, but honestly, even he could only do so much at once. Either he entertained Jubilee's insanity or he put in the kind of work that would make it hard for the Summerses to get through. And he knew which path would irritate Cable the most, so … in short order, he was working along the outer edges of James' psyche. It was hard to see when everything was so _clean_ and blank and pure white … but it was still there.

Like _any_ telepath, he put his own spin on things - setting traps as he went that were powerful enough and nasty enough to ensnare even the strongest telepaths if they were to go poking around. He wasn't banking on someone like Sinister for as quickly as he'd rabbited away from the fight in Egypt, but someone more nefarious could still creep along, and Quentin didn't like the idea of _any_ of them hiding out in one of the Howletts. _Not because he was fond of them_. That was a ludicrous notion. No, he just didn't want someone like Cassandra Nova inside someone that was so stupidly hard to kill. He was pretty sure that she was back on her home planet, but Cable was right … this kind of wide open door even here on Earth would be tempting to those with the ability to possess it.

Quentin had been working in shifts with the Summers kids around the clock for _days_ to shore up James' mind and make repairs where they could, so he was becoming familiar with the young man's mind. But he still wasn't somehow prepared to feel a hot breeze out of nowhere. He turned, frowning as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again, but if there was someone poking around already, they were trying to hide from Quentin. And nothing about a hot breeze seemed like it would line up with anything _positive_ with this family. Not when the last hot place with the kid was Egypt with Apocalypse. And it was just enough that he didn't want to wait around to see what it might be.

Not knowing the origin, though, Quentin didn't want to warn _anyone_ of what he was thinking before he _pulled_ Nate and Rachel to him. _I'm not going to tell you what I'm thinking_ , Quentin projected to them. _But there is something_ hot _here._

 _It's not the Phoenix,_ Rachel replied, sounding resolute but still shaken, all things considered. _We stamped out the last embers of that fire, and it's locked away._

 _Okay, great, didn't think it was you,_ Quentin replied with a definite eye roll. _You can ask the others to guard the door or come and look, but maybe put Jubilee in charge of guarding that picture. Not just watching it but safeguarding._

 _Betsy can stay with her too,_ Rachel said, one eyebrow raised.

 _Then Hope can stay back and watch over everyone,_ Quentin replied. _I hope I don't have to focus enough to stop making my coffee, but if I do, she should keep track of everyone._

 _She's encouraging your girlfriend and Wade into a competition literally no one understands but them,_ Nate said in a longsuffering tone.

 _Welcome to my Wednesday afternoons._ Quentin smirked as he watched Nate.

_And my Sunday nights._

_I didn't realize you two were that_ official _. Isn't Sunday night generally reserved for family only?_ Quentin was snickering openly as he armored up for trouble even if they didn't know for sure there was any. _Who or what are your biggest suspects?_

 _Cyber hasn't had his own body in a long time,_ Nate said. _Not to mention Cassandra Nova, Proteus or Shadow King._

 _What about Sinister?_ Rachel pointed out. _She was working under Apocalypse when I-_

Nate shook his head. _Sinister's too busy sowing the seeds of his own death to bother looking this way right now. If he wasn't occupied, maybe, but not right now._

Rachel frowned but decided not to question Nate about _that_ particular revelation until after they'd dealt with the more pressing matter. So, she narrowed her eyes. _Malice or John Sublime, I suppose,_ she said slowly.

 _So … lots of telepathic parasites,_ Quentin summarized. _You got a favorite? Because I don't mind telling you I would_ love _to be able to inform Logan that I eradicated Cyber…_

 _I don't think Cyber would be this subtle,_ Rachel said. _But you're right: something is already poking around._

 _So we stop them from doing more than poking,_ Nate said, already on the move.

With Betsy and Jubilee watching over what was left of James' mind, Nate, Rachel, and Quentin fanned out until Rachel was the one to pick up on the faint heat of the wind Quentin had mentioned and reached out to the other two, rushing ahead until she was close enough to see the dark shape of the person behind the incursion.

 _Found him,_ she projected to the others. _It's the Shadow King._

Betsy was even more on guard than she had been once Rachel had identified the problem, since she and Ahmal Farouk had a long and fitful background that had ended with him escaping the mental prison Betsy had him locked into. _He'll play on your fears and your dreams and try to trap you in a mental maze_ , she projected out to the others. _End him if you can._

 _On it_ , Rachel promised - though that wasn't entirely true, since she nearly immediately came to a stop when she realized that she could see embers in the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure if she was _actually_ blazing with the power of the Phoenix or if it was a trick, but in the time it took her to double-check that, yes, the Phoenix was locked away, Farouk was already pushing his advantage.

 _What a fertile, open mind you've given me_...

 _Not yours,_ Rachel shot back, her teeth gritted and her hands in fists.

 _Not until I throw you out of it. Which won't take too long,_ Farouk replied as his smoky shape shifted to something closer to what he _used_ to be - unnaturally dark skin, slicked back hair, a tailored linen suit, and a greasy smile as he gestured around them appreciatively. _This_ is _your handiwork, isn't it?_

 _Oh, go to hell,_ Rachel shot back, not in the mood to have anyone _else_ poking at the immense guilt she already felt. So, she threw her hand out with a psychic attack of blazing red knives without a hint of real fire to them.

Farouk tutted, shifting to smoke to avoid her attack. "I truly do appreciate giving this mind such a clean start for me. It's so _troublesome_ to deal with an occupied mind, and as I understand it, the body attached to this beautifully empty vessel is rather … durable. But for as much as I appreciate your work, alas, I do not think that I'll be needing your services again anytime soon. This body should last me for _quite_ a while."

"You won't even get a joyride," Rachel shot back, this time reaching out to try to bind him in place, but doing that and holding back the too-recently empowered Phoenix was harder than she anticipated.

But then, that was the whole point of calling in powerful backup.

Nate was quick to sweep Rachel away from the counterattack she didn't even see _coming_ as Farouk tried to hit her from behind while drawing her attention to himself as he grinned. He was already doing what he could to twist James' mindscape to his own whims, and that only made things harder for Rachel and Nate as they tried to keep ahead of the rules that Farouk was putting into play.

 _If we can keep him solid, we can end this faster,_ Rachel projected to Nate, frustrated by how easily Farouk had already flustered her. No matter how understandable it was for her to feel guilty and shaken standing in the ruins of what she'd done to James, she didn't think it was acceptable at _all_ to have lost her standing like that.

 _That's not going to be easy with him adjusting for his mindscape already. If we don't put an end to this quickly, we'll be doing James more harm - which is probably what he's shooting for. Force us out before we destroy_ James _._

 _Not gonna happen,_ Jubilee swore with everything about her telepathic presence screaming that she was ready to take down anyone who so much as looked at her precious photographic piece of James.

Still, it was hard to ignore that the bright white mindscape was already steadily darkening or that the wind seemed to be shifting - or that there was wind in the first place.

 _I can help more with you_ , Betsy projected. _I know how to use his powers against him. I_ took _some of his powers._

 _Do it,_ Nate replied. _Rachel, help Jubilee._

Betsy entered the fight just as slippery and sneakily as Farouk had tried to attack Rachel - by using his own shadows as a conduit to creep closer to him. She was hidden seamlessly in his black-purple smoke until Betsy revealed herself by unsheathing her psychic blade far too close to Farouk for his comfort.

What the others hadn't expected was to see Betsy keeping close to Farouk as he shifted into smoke and slipped from one area to another. It seemed she knew _exactly_ how to utilize his powers and hold to him tightly and he was cursing her in Persian the whole while. It was a much _closer_ telepathic battle than most of the telepaths were comfortable with, especially as Betsy and Farouk kept morphing into smoke that swirled and spun in a way that made it hard to track, let alone intervene.

Then, Nate saw - just for an instant - that Betsy was struggling to bring her blade closer to Farouk, and he was pushing her back. She needed someone to lighten the press Farouk was making on her.

Nate rushed to keep up, shifting to flight rather than more mundane methods of travel. He knew he could take a shot - but doing so would be just as likely to hit Betsy as he was to hit Farouk. And telekinesis was touch and go at best on the psychic plane, so he tried to separate the two fighters. He was just set to start shouting at Quire to get with the group when he saw a flash of hot pink hair out of the corner of his eye.

 _What's taking you so long?_ Quire projected to Nate. _Do it already!_

Nate didn't have time to get annoyed by Quentin, though he did have his jaw locked as he finally managed to pull the Shadow King apart from Betsy.

As soon as there was some separation, Quentin made his first reasonable attack on him with a psychic shotgun opener that _barely_ missed hitting Betsy.

 _Watch it,_ Nate grumbled, even as he and Betsy pulled a spectacular double-team on the Shadow King, using Betsy's ability to stick close to him to steer him closer to Nate in an attempt to exploit what he saw as a weaker player in the game, only for both of them to close ranks and pin him down for the first time since his arrival.

Once the telepaths in play were sure that the Shadow King was pinned - albeit with some difficulty - Quentin took the opening to attack. His focus was a lot more precision than the others had seen and not one of them was expecting Quentin to channel what seemed to be the blinding light of the sun in a laser precise attack on the Farouk.

The light paralyzed him - and in that same breath, Quentin's lip curled and he pressed forward with _all_ his substantial power to atomize the Shadow King into the psychic realm at large - scattering him like ashes in the wind. He was careful, though, to be sure not one miniscule grain of Farouk was left behind in James' still open mind.

After all - if he was allowed to stay in a mind he had already started working on molding to his comfort, it would be an easy matter for a psi-talent of his caliber to find a way to get a foothold once again.

There was silence in James' mindscape for a good, long time as every single one of the telepaths there made doubly and triply sure that there was nothing left to threaten James' mind - erasing what the Shadow King had done.

Finally, Jubilee was the one to break the silence. "So… the family photo has a picture frame now. That's progress, right?"

Rachel did a double-take, since she had been standing in front of Jubilee ready to defend her as well as James' photograph and hadn't seen that bit of growth. But when she did see it, she sighed in relief and nodded, one hand on Jubilee's shoulder. "Yeah," she said in a pinched voice. "Yeah. There used to be a gallery here. We should hang it once it's rebuilt."

* * *

Progress in James' mind was slow-going, but it was, in fact, progress.

It helped that Quentin got immediately to work after the Shadow King's defeat on rebuilding the gallery as Rachel remembered it in James' mind. It would be healthiest for James to organically rebuild the pictures and memories themselves, but Quentin gave him the framework to hold his mind together to do so.

And with that framework in place, progress did, in fact, move at a quicker pace.

Smooth white walls sprouted up after Quentin set to laying out the walls' outline like a blueprint, and shortly after that, smooth marble made up the flooring _inside_ the vast gallery. The pictures on the wall began with the family portrait at the center of his gallery, with a spotlight that made the image glow warmly.

After that, new pictures began to pop up, though they didn't look like there were people in them to start with. Beautiful scenery that started out with the view from his father's favorite cabin, snow-covered trees and rolling hills that ended at a frozen and bitterly cold looking Lake Superior with the northern lights dancing above … and that was the first clue that things were starting to shape up. Once Quentin took a good look at the picture with the Aurora borealis, the focus became sharper - the colors more vibrant - and when he got close to the photograph, he could see his breath hanging in the air near the frozen scene. What's more, the closer he got, the more the picture seemed to encompass, more like he was looking out of a window than simply at a static moment in time.

It was enough to earn an entertained smirk from Quentin. "And I was prepared to be disappointed with just a photo gallery," he said under his breath. "Not bad, shrimp."

All of the photos on the wall offered a glimpse - cherry trees in full bloom in Kyoto, a sun-baked beach in the south seas, autumn leaves of glowing golden yellow reaching over a roadway with the afternoon sun filtering through the leaves and setting the whole forest alight with a warm glow.

Every scene was becoming more and more complete, from the depth of the moments captured to the breezes, scents, and ambiance that enveloped the viewer from the moment they got close enough to truly _experience_ the memories that shaped James' persona.

Once the memories in the photos began to form faster, Quentin was amused to see the marble floor give way to a pebbled, mossy path that seemed to lead outside to a vast garden that he was very sure didn't actually exist in the real world. There was a bridge that led over the top of a koi pond and a trickling waterfall surrounded by blooming flowers. The air was scented with plumeria and coconut, and Quentin frowned to himself as he tried to place the scent in his patient's memory. But once he reached for it, he was hit with a rush of emotion that nearly took his breath away. The boy was healing from the trauma of what Rachel had done, but as that injury was reversing itself, it became clear to Quentin that the damage from losing Vanessa wasn't going to be swept under the rug. The damage from _that_ event had etched itself right into the most serene and peaceful spot that James had. It should have been reserved just for him, but …

As Quentin returned to the gallery, he realized that when there were no ambient scents attached to one picture or another, the scents that James associated with Vanessa were like a light echo everywhere else. The smells weren't strong enough to realize it right off - but the loss and first real heartbreak _was_ discoloring everything else.

For a long moment, Quentin simply stared at the paintings while the scent recall for James brought up familiar, long-repressed memories for Quentin regarding _Sophie_ , _his_ long lost first love. He considered _fixing_ that for James, since the kid had enough of a rough road ahead of him without adding _that_ to the pile, but in a moment of wisdom that was becoming more and more frequent for him, he took a deep breath and a step back. _That_ would be altering the James' personality and creating a rift between his memories and his inner self - good or bad, there was no way to tell which way it would fall, and ultimately, Quentin knew that part shouldn't be his call.

"If he _needs it_ , that will be different," Quentin said to himself as he put his hands on his hips and looked around the gallery with a frown. When he turned around, there was a new photograph coming into focus and a few items on a pedestal that Quentin knew had not been there a moment ago. "Alright. You do this part. I'll go work on reinforcements for a while," Quentin said to the room at large. "If you have anything scarring to remember, _please_ wait for Rachel or Nate to pull that into focus."


	20. Off-Kilter Demiurge

The family and closest friends were on a tight rotation for long enough that by the time James' mind was nearly back to normal, parts of the mansion were finished well enough that the team could move back in, though the wing that the students would once again occupy was still going through severe work. They'd only been back to Graymalkin Lane for a couple days when Kurt happened to be on watch in Hank's new lab when James finally started to stir. He was healed enough to wake up at least a little, though it was clear that, from the moment James started to open his eyes, he was confused. The monitors all ticked up, and he looked around the room with a frown.

Kurt put a hand on James's arm. "It's alright. You're safe," he said soothingly. "You're in the medical wing but safe nonetheless."

James stared at him for a long moment before he very lightly shook his head and closed his eyes again, trying to shut Kurt out.

But Kurt had known Logan long enough to recognize the signs and simply wasn't going to let it rest. He patted James's arm gently as he continued, "All three of the other Horsemen are safe. They're with their families. Apocalypse is dead, and any influence he had over you is gone. It's just a memory, James. Nothing more."

James stubbornly kept his eyes closed and shook his head again, but he refused to trust himself enough to speak. There was too much he didn't know about what had happened after he'd passed out, but he did _not_ expect to wake up. At all. Not to mention the fact that, like every other time that he'd disappointed Apocalypse … he felt as if he could scarcely draw in a breath for the weight in his chest.

"Bobby is fine," Kurt said. "And the mansion is being rebuilt. Most of the residential areas and the most important things - the Danger Room, for example - are well on the way to being repaired. And your parents are fine. I'm sure they're looking forward to seeing you awake; they're in here every day."

At that, James opened his eyes and stared at Kurt in disbelief. He remembered trying to kill Elin - and the fact that he'd considered it simply as a method to get his father to attack him. There was no way that his parents would be alright with him.

"Oh, yes," Kurt said, nodding seriously. "Annie is going to do the same with you as she did with them - insist on feeding you." He leaned forward with both eyebrows raised. "She has made it her mission."

James took a closer look at the monitors and leads and started simply taking all of them off, not tossing them or doing anything overly dramatic, simply dropping them as he peeled them off. But when he pulled out his IV before Kurt could stop him, he had to just stare when, instead of a quick bloom of blood that would be quickly wiped onto the sheets or scrubbed away in the sink a moment later, the bleeding didn't seem to want to stop. It was as if he'd never actually seen someone bleed before, and he sat, transfixed, as the blood quickly slipped from the crook of his arm and soaked into the sheet.

"James, please," Kurt said gently as he tried to stop the bleeding. When James was still staring, Kurt hit the call button for Hank. "Your body has been through a terrible strain, even for one as gifted as you. Your healing has been overtaxed, and you're not fully healed." As he spoke, Hank arrived, his eyebrows raised when he saw the state of things.

Hank crossed the span in a blink and pushed James back flat with one gentle hand, though the motion hadn't drawn James' attention at all, and Hank was already preparing to start evaluating his cognitive ability if he continued to react like _this_. It was entirely possible that the brain surgery had done lasting damage on top of the psychic damage… and that wouldn't help _anyone_. "You're in no state to leave yet," he said as he pressed some gauze to the crook of James' elbow to get the bleeding to stop.

James didn't fight him as he replaced most of the leads, but he also was careful not to say anything, either. When Hank returned a few moments later after discarding some of the bloodied supplies, he gently pulled James up to remove the bandages on his head and to check the incision site from Strange's surgery, muttering to himself on the progress of his healing.

"I'll be back," Kurt promised before he simply disappeared to get Logan and K, reappearing a few minutes later just as Hank was finishing up his examination so that they could see for themselves that their son was finally awake.

Logan let out a sigh of relief as James looked almost nervous at their reactions, and a moment later, K had made her way over and sat down facing him on his bed. Then, she pulled him over for a gentle sort of hug that did not have the desired effect at all when James just seemed to crumble in on himself, loosely holding on to her as he buried his face in her sholder.

It was a lot for him to process. There was grief, of course. Though for James it was mostly for Vanessa and for everything that he'd done while he was doing Apocalypse's bidding. There was a crushing amount of guilt for all the same reasons and for the simple fact that if he hadn't done as he'd been told, then the others wouldn't have been drawn into it as well. And the whole fiasco would have been much harder for Apocalypse to pull off. And that wasn't even figuring in all the killing of perfectly innocent people that he'd done. Or all of the cyber espionage. He barely heard Hank's explanation of all that had happened medically. He just couldn't focus on it. All he knew was that, on top of all of the horrible things he'd done, he'd managed to break his healing. As if that was something he even knew could be done. He felt like the ultimate failure.

What's more, he could remember attacking his parents. And fighting and nearly killing his sister. And killing all of those people at the West Coast Avengers … attacking Tony in the tower … literally everything he had tried to make good on had been undone. And he was more than a little resentful that Rachel hadn't done as he'd asked while he was in the flames and _killed_ him.

But he was still smart enough not to say any of that out loud, and for the moment, he let himself be wrapped up in the nightmares of his own self torture as his parents tried to comfort him. He just couldn't see how _anything_ could ever be okay again.

* * *

Kari had appeared in the lab in a poof of pink. She wasn't actually on the roster of people who were set to watch out for James, but she knew from her father that everyone was concerned about his state. And seeing her dad look so down after visiting with James… she just had to see him for herself.

Logan was there with James at the moment, though he didn't seem to mind when Kari teleported to be right next to James, her eyes wide and her tail slowly swaying as she looked over her best friend. He had his eyes closed, and his head was turned away from the door. Kari glanced up at Logan. "Is he sleeping?" she asked with a small frown.

"No," Logan said. "But I wouldn't expect much conversation either."

Kari frowned at that and nodded slowly before she pulled a chair over to simply sit on the other side of James from Logan and rested her hand on top of his. "I'm so sorry you're hurting," she said quietly. "But I'm really glad you're back. I missed you."

James didn't respond at all, and he didn't move a muscle or register that she was trying to get him to do … anything. Still, Logan caught her gaze and nodded to her, trying to encourage her to not let him ignore her.

Kari glanced toward Logan and nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath and letting it out all at once. "You, um, you missed the part where my impatient sister announced to everyone that she's having a baby," she said with a small smile. "So I'm going to be an aunt. And I'll probably need your advice on the whole… niece or nephew thing. Wasn't really expecting it so soon…" When James continued to ignore her, Kari let her shoulders drop a bit and then bit her lip.

"We don't have the art room rebuilt yet, but I think I'll do a few pencil drawings to show you," she said. "It's not quite the same as a full painting, but I think it'll better capture the feelings everyone has… Charlie hugging Cable maybe. Those two are so sweet; he's a good big brother, really…"

While Kari was trying to get James to react, Logan got up and left them alone for a moment, hoping that clearing the room and leaving it to the two of them might help. But when he came back, and there was no change, he waited outside to catch Kari before she left. He didn't say anything as he pressed a piece of paper into her hand instructing her to get James' hard drives and copy them. ' _He'll wreck them, and then he'll regret it'_ was all he'd added to the instruction.

Kari glanced down at the instructions and frowned harder for a moment. "I'll get all of it," she promised him softly before she simply threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

Logan wrapped her up tightly for a good long time and kissed the side of her head before he let her go.

Kari didn't quite get out the door, however, before she met someone else coming to visit James; Chloe was hanging in the doorway, her arms wrapped around herself as she watched James.

"Hi," she said softly, though it wasn't immediately clear who she was trying to address. "I was… I just… I wanted to check…"

"He's not saying anything right now," Kari said with disappointment ringing in her tone.

"Yeah. Well. Dad isn't really either. Loss does that," Chloe said in a bare whisper, though she was staring at James as if she could will him into being okay. "Can I…?" She didn't ask for more permission than the fact that no one stopped her as she got closer to James, who was ignoring her as he'd done with Kari. She still had her arms crossed over her chest and a tight hold on her elbows, and she was biting her lip as she tried to come up with something to say. This was _so_ hard. He had always been the one that had supported her and encouraged her. She'd never seen him anywhere close to this … and she didn't know if anyone had told him about Cody yet. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized _that_. The two of them had been close, too.

Finally, she settled on, "I'm - I'm really sorry all this happened. I wish I could fix it."

When James didn't say anything or even acknowledge that she was there, Kari sighed and reached out to take Chloe's hand. "Come on," she said.

Chloe frowned, not quite ready to leave. "I just…"

Kari nodded. "I know." She pulled the note Logan had written her out of her pocket and surreptitiously showed it to Chloe - and that finally got Chloe to step back and settle her shoulders with a quiet nod of agreement.

In a poof of pink, the girls reappeared together where most of the things from the mansion had been set aside - everything that had been salvaged from their home. Most of it had already been sorted by families so that everyone would have their things when they returned, so James' things weren't _too_ difficult to find.

Kari crouched down and picked up one of the drives to hand it to Chloe before she started searching for another. "It's actually good timing you came when you did," she said. Her voice held a slight warble, giving away how upset she was on James' behalf. "If he looks for these, he'll probably go right to my art studio. Or to Charlie. You're the better bet for keeping them hidden and safe."

Chloe nodded wordlessly, still processing how broken down James had been as Kari sifted. "I can do that, yeah," she said. "Least I can do."

Kari scrunched her nose up. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm surprised you're even trying to help. I was a puddle after the bamf died, and you lost your _brother_."

Chloe sighed. "I just… want to fix this."

"We all do."

"Yeah, no, I know, it's just…" Chloe puffed her breath through her cheeks. "Never mind."

Kari went to her side and then wrapped her in a hug. "I know," she said quietly - and didn't let Chloe out of her hug, either. She'd been friends with the Summers family too long not to know that sometimes, when they were that caught in their own thoughts, a hug was the only thing that worked.

Besides, a hug always made _her_ feel better, too.

Then, when both of them were feeling a little steadier, they got back to work.

* * *

There was, of course, one more person who had been affected by Apocalypse who still needed to recover from the effects - and that was Billy.

While his powers had stopped going haywire, that didn't mean that Billy was all there. Even if he had been sedated, his dreams while he was out had been the same thing he'd been seeing before: hundreds of realities in which everyone he loved was suffering, dying.

Having Teddy there was a real help, but there were still moments when he was obviously not in the right reality - not because he was focused on the wrong reality in his powers, but because, quite frankly, Apocalypse had driven him to the brink of insanity, and he was toying with the edge.

Teddy had caught him a few times as he headed off to deal with threats that weren't there, and he'd had to pull Billy back, kissing him hard as he promised over and over again that he was safe and that he was _home_ and that nothing was going to go wrong.

Of course, Teddy didn't always catch him - sometimes, he was asleep or even ducking outside for just a few minutes. And then he had to rush to catch up to Billy before he could go fight off a dictator Maria Hill or rescue Logan from Weapon X - when obviously, those things weren't happening in _this_ reality.

That was the problem - Billy finally had the chance to _do_ something about the realities that he had been seeing, and it seemed like the experience had made him determined to prevent this reality from becoming like the others that he'd seen.

K had managed to catch Billy when he was going through one of these moments - but naturally, she had John with her, which only made it harder for her to throw herself in his path and talk him down. But she wasn't about to let one of her boys go off on a tangent if she could help him. "Hey, come on, shooting star," K told him, taking a hold of his wrist with one hand, since John was occupying her other arm. "I need you here with me for just a minute."

"I need… I have to stop Sabretooth," Billy said distractedly.

"I will help you, I swear," she promised. "But if I'm going to bleed him out, you need to keep John away from him."

Billy blinked at her for a moment and then looked down at John as if he hadn't noticed the baby there before. He smiled lightly at the little guy and then looked up at K, the stars in his eyes a little more garbled than usual but still there. "He - he's coming after your daughter," Billy said, clearly worried.

"Well, that's a very bad life choice for him, isn't it?"

"I won't let him," Billy swore.

"Alright, but you should hold John first," K said, gently handing him the little boy, who immediately leaned in to give Billy a sloppy, wet baby kiss.

Billy smiled down at the little boy and pulled him into a tight hug. "Yes, hello, love you too," he said with a smile before he started to tickle the little guy. The galaxies in his eyes resettled a bit with a task in _this_ timeline that he could focus on. Particularly one that involved a belly laughing little boy.

"Such a wonderful big brother," K said before she popped up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

He smiled at her lightly. "He's so amazing, K. Really. You did good."

"I had some great material to work with," she shot back.

He nodded to himself, though the smile turned into a frown as he kept nodding. "Yeah… material," he said before he handed John back to K. "I have to go. Really. I know what I said before, but I-"

"Please," she said. "If I can go kick some big, ugly backside with you, I would so love to do it."

He glanced at her for a second, frowned, and simply disappeared in a flash of light.

"Ugh, overly dramatic little punk," she muttered to John, who just dropped his head heavily on her shoulder. She was taking him up to Kate, who was looking for a play time with the little one so K could sit with James, who was not acting like himself at all. She didn't think too much on it as she headed off to get back to what she was doing, trusting that Billy would eventually find his way home to Teddy.

To the worry of the group at large, though, Billy remained MIA for the rest of the day and didn't show up again until the next morning, simply reappearing in the middle of K and Logan's room before the sun came up. He was curled around a little girl who was maybe three years old and looking much worse for the wear, with claw marks down his arms and side.

"What the hell happened to you?" Logan asked as he got out of bed in a rush and pulled on some jeans as he made his way over to the two of them. "Who's this?" It was apparent that Logan caught a whiff of the scent all over Billy and the little girl when he almost leaned back away from him. "Wiccan?"

"I - I couldn't just… she's K's," Billy tried to explain, still wrapped tightly around the little girl, who was clinging to his cape.

Logan stared at him flatly. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Department - they made her," Billy said. He winced as he pulled at the claw marks and then shook his head. "Not this reality. But I couldn't just stand by when I saw it…"

Logan stood up and headed over to get some clean towels to at least start to clean him up and stop the bleeding, though when he popped a claw to clear the fabric that was embedded into Billy's side out of the way, the little one flinched. "Don't move," he told Billy as he started to remove the fabric. He was putting pressure on the injuries and clearing up the blood to see how bad it was, only glancing up at Billy with a severe expression now and again as he worked.

Billy almost held his breath as Logan triaged him before he looked over to K. "That reality - you died to protect her, and I couldn't let him kill her too."

"Proof that not every world has the chance to be perfect," she said as she made her way over to help with more fresh linens. She set the fabric down and then let out a sigh as she put a pillow under Billy's head. "You can't go picking fights in other realities without me just because of something little like that."

Billy let out a sigh. "I used to know when I could and couldn't interfere," he muttered.

"And you'll get a handle on that again," K promised. "You just spent too much time unable to do anything. Think of what would happen if you'd been born like Scott. Your head would have exploded by the time you woke up from all that mess." She turned to see the little girl peeking out from Billy's cape. "So, you didn't answer my husband. I'm sure you were distracted with him being fresh from bed, shirtless, and cutting your uniform off; but that's just bad focus, sweetie. Who is this?"

"This is…" Billy smiled then glanced down at the little girl. "This is Lily. At least, that's what I've been calling her. She might not have had a name; I didn't get to ask the other K…"

K stepped around Logan and gave the little girl a smile. " _Hej, flicka. Vad heter du?_ "

The little girl looked uncertain and glanced over at Logan for a moment before she shook her head hard. "One seben _nine,_ " she said clearly, holding onto Billy's cape with one hand.

K turned toward Logan and hit him in the chest with the back of her hand. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he said in a scoff. "Outside of keepin' your space boy from bleedin' out."

K gave the little girl a small smile. " _Nej, flicka. Vad heter du_?" she tapped her chest and then reached over to gently touch her nose.

She pulled the cape up nearly to her eyes and barely whispered out "Jenny."

K nodded and then touched her nose again. "This is a new world. How about a new name?"

The little girl glanced over at Billy. "I like his name," she said very slowly.

"You like Billy or you like that he calls you Lily?" K asked, offering her a hand.

She nodded quietly. "I wike Billy. I wike his name for me- wike _Liwy_."

"I… was trying to come up with a short version of yours," Billy admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Okay then," K said with a nod. "It's the same. Lilja is Lily in Swedish."

"Hit it on the head, then," Billy said, leaning back a bit and closing his eyes, clearly worn down from the fight in the other dimension.

"Hey, you're not gonna pass out in here," Logan said, taking the cape off of Billy's shoulders for Lily to hold on to as he scooped Billy up. "Come on, you're going to the lab."

Billy didn't argue that in the least, but Lily tugged on K's hand with wide eyes, shaking her head 'no'.

"Logan won't hurt him," K promised.

"No labs," Lily said, her eyes even wider.

She nodded and held her arms out for her to come closer. "Not that kind of a lab, I promise. This has good doctors that won't hurt. Nothing like the place you know." She looked over her shoulder before she picked up the little girl and headed to the next room, where Sadie and Malin were waking up. "Can you two keep an eye on John? I have to step out and see Hank for a minute." Of course, the girls didn't argue it, and K headed out in Logan's wake. "We'll catch up to them in no time, and if Logan still scares you, you can hit him. He won't mind."

Lily frowned at that and hung onto K's shirt at the collar as they headed downstairs, to where Teddy was looking clearly relieved - but also clearly worried - when Logan arrived with Billy.

"I'm going to put a bell on your neck, I swear," Teddy said as Logan laid Billy down on a gurney. Tyler had been sleeping in most mornings lately, and no one wanted to wake him after all he'd been through. So Hank was the one on deck to help.

"He just showed up in our room," Logan said. "Did what I could to control the bleeding."

"Why is he even bleeding?" Teddy asked, looking ready to start pacing.

"If I'm going by scent, I'd guess he jumped into a reality that still had a Sabretooth," Logan said.

"What?" Teddy turned to face Billy with a look of pure incredulity. "You _can't_ do things like that, Billy!"

"He had a good reason," Logan defended, both hands up. "Though he hasn't told the whole story yet. Let him get a breath."

Billy gave Logan a little smile as he leaned back and let Hank fuss over him a bit - though a lot of the wind did leave Teddy's sails when K arrived a short time later with Lily in her arms. "That's what he left for?" he asked quietly, his expression softening significantly.

"I couldn't let her die," Billy said softly. "I saw a world where the Department … they wanted to make better weapons. They took K and-" He paused and looked K's way. "Well, they took you and Sabretooth and thought that was a great match."

"I may need to go to this reality to kill some people," Logan muttered.

Billy nodded at that. "That version of K got out with the girl, but they sent Creed after her - and he was only supposed to bring back the girl, not K." He paused. "He was going to kill her anyway, because of all the trouble she was causing him."

"Sounds about right," K agreed. "Probably had issues with her not being a boy too. Jackass."

"And I just… if I hadn't interfered, she'd be dead, and there's no reason she should be."

K put her hand on Lily's head and let her snuggle in a little better. "I can't blame you for trying to help her."

"Me neither," Teddy said, rubbing Billy's shoulder with one hand and an affectionate smile. "But sweetheart, we need to work out a better system, because you can't just disappear on us without telling anyone - or taking someone with you."

Logan took a step forward and grabbed on to Billy's other arm. "And the next time you get it in your head you want to head out to fight Sabretooth, of all people, _come get me._ "

"You - weren't - exactly…" Billy let out a breath.

"What."

"You weren't exactly on the side of the angels over there," Billy said.

Logan let out a breath and tipped his head down. "Well, I guess that would have made it that much easier to get close to him, wouldn't it?"

Billy nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll… I'll bring someone with me."

"Someone who knows this reality," Teddy said. "Not someone in another reality. You need to know where to come back to - and one of us can tell you if you're going after someone who's already dead or something."

"I probably shouldn't be interfering at all," Billy said with a sigh, leaning over to rest his head on Teddy's shoulder.

"You're trying to help," Teddy said gently before he brushed Billy's hair out of his eyes. "It's part of why I love you. So please don't stop being a hero."

Billy couldn't help but smile at that. "Okay, when you put it like that…"

Teddy just chuckled and leaned in to kiss him. "We'll get through this. You'll get used to having your feet on solid ground here, and we'll get through this, okay?"

"Love you too, Teddy."

As the boys talked, K waved Logan over to introduce him to the little girl. "This one - this one right here, with me? He's one of the good guys." She reached out and took his hand to hold up for little Lily to see. "That ring says he's mine. He would _never_ hurt a little girl. Ever."

"Weally?" Lily asked, scrunching up her nose.

K nodded her head. "All mine." Logan had to smirk, but he held his hand still so Lily could take a look if she wanted to

The little girl leaned over carefully to examine Logan's ring, tracing her fingers over it lightly. Finally, she looked up at Logan and shyly smiled before hiding again in K's shoulder.

"See?" K said softly. "I told you he wouldn't hurt you."

Lily nodded and then wrapped her arms around K in a hug. "O-tay."

"Do you want to go back upstairs and get cleaned up? I'm sure the girls can find you some nicer clothes while Billy gets back in one piece," K offered.

"Girws wike me?" Lily asked with wide eyes.

"Our girls," Logan said in a warm rumble. "They're a little older than you."

Lily chewed on her shirt drawn up to nearly her nose as she thought about it before she nodded. "Otay, Mama."

"Of course it is," K told her, tipping her head toward the little blonde. "Billy - I'm sorry. But I'm telling Annie about you on my way up. There will be no dimension you can hide before she feeds you. So don't try to run."

"We'll get her cleaned up," Logan said with one hand on K's back as he addressed Billy and Teddy. "And then we'll figure out what's next."

"I'm sorry to drop in on your morning like this," Billy said with a little smirk.

"No you're not," Logan called back, which just had Billy chuckling to himself as Teddy grinned at him and kissed him again, glad to see his husband in high spirits.

The two Howletts headed upstairs with the little girl, and K helped her to get cleaned up and changed into some old clothes of the girls', though she did note that Lily never strayed far from K and was always within grabbing distance of her clothes, leg, arm … whatever she could hold onto.

Logan crouched down to her level once she'd gotten startled at one of the construction noises and waited for her to meet his gaze. "Did Sabretooth scare you?" he asked quietly.

Lily hid a little more behind K before she nodded very softly. "Uh-huh."

"Would you feel any better if I told you that we don't have one here?"

Lily's eyebrows shot up. "Weally?"

"Really," Logan said with a nod.

"O-tay," she said, starting to smile a little. "Das good. I wike dis world."

Logan gave her a little smile. "Good. Are you hungry?"

She nodded lightly. "Uh-huh."

"Then you're really going to like Miss Annie, little darlin'," he told her before he stood up and offered her his hand - not in place of K, but in addition to, so that she was holding onto both of them tightly as they made their way downstairs.

As expected, Annie was making breakfast and keeping herself busy, though she stopped when she saw the little girl between Logan and K. "Who's this little angel?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Lily," K said looking down to the little girl who couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Well, hello, Lily. I'm Annie," Annie said, crouching down to her level.

Lily looked up at K with wide eyes. "Das - das who you - das who _Wogan_ said I'd wike!"

"Everyone likes Annie, or they're just not good people," K told her.

Annie couldn't help but smile at that, especially when Lily gave her a shy smile. "Would you like some pancakes, Lily? I've been making some with chocolate chips in them if you like chocolate."

Lily glanced up at K. who smiled her encouragement. "O-tay," she said quietly, letting K help her up to a seat at the table - and then dove into the pancakes with abandon after the first bite, smiling and sticky within minutes.

Logan had left the two girls, only to return with coffee for himself and K, and Lily's milk, making sure both of them were set up before he sat down next to K.

"O...kay," Scott said from the doorway as he made his appearance, both eyebrows raised as he gently rolled forward. "Where did you find this one?"

"She just showed up in our room, Slim," Logan said as he raised his mug.

Scott turned Logan's way, smirked, and shook his head. "No, really."

"Really," Logan said. "She came with Wiccan, who set the tone for a very weird kind of morning."

"Oh, he's back, then," Scott said, sounding relieved. "Hulkling's been beside himself since yesterday."

"It's all Billy's fault for going galavanting without me," K said, then tipped her cup back.

"I wike Biwy," Lily said quietly. "I wike Miss Annie, too." She looked up at K. "Can I have more, Mama?"

"Of course," K said with a nod, and before K could move, Logan got up and took the little one's plate to the kitchen.

Scott raised an eyebrow K's way. "What's the story here?"

"Alternate reality, she's my daughter."

Scott looked between K and Logan for a moment. "Alright. So where's Logan?"

"Not the daddy," K said.

"I do know a little about genetics," Scott said. "What, did you actually marry Clint in another world?"

"Oh, _that_ would have been so much better," Logan said in a dry tone as he passed Scott by and gave Lily her a second helping of chocolate chip pancakes. "She's a Creed."

"Ah." Scott nodded once and then leaned forward. "So. What's your plan?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet," K admitted. "We were kind of focused on making sure she was okay before we came up with anything like a plan."

"And we're not moving forward on anything without Billy involved," Logan added. "Seeing as he named her."

"Got it," Scott said with a nod. He looked toward Lily with a warm smile. "Well, in the meantime, we'll make sure she's comfortable here."

K leaned closer to Lily and whispered in her ear so quietly only she and Logan could hear her. "Do you know who Cyclops is?"

Lily pursed her lips and shook her head. "I heaw-ded dem - I heaw-ded dem _talk_ nin' bout a Cycwops."

"Good or bad?"

"Samertoof didn' wike him," Lily said, shaking her head so her soft curls bounced.

"Damn," Logan said, shaking his head before he pointed to Scott. "That's him."

Lily's eyebrows shot up before she gave Scott a shy smile. "Oh! _Hi,_ I'm Liwy."

Scott smiled at that. "You can call me Scott."

"He belongs to Annie," K said loud enough that Scott could hear her. "And he likes it that way."

"That's right he does," Annie said with a smirk.

Scott chuckled at that, though he didn't say anything, because just then, Billy found his way back upstairs with Teddy - bandaged but looking much better.

"Oh, honey, no one should do that much of a Hawkeye impersonation," Annie said, rushing to fill up a couple plates for both of them.

"Kate will say it's the highest form of flattery," Billy joked before he sat down by K and Lily with a smile.

"Kate has permanent head trauma," Logan muttered.

"Did you get fix'd-ed?" Lily asked Billy with her eyes wide.

Billy grinned at her and nodded. "Sure did," he said, showing her the wrappings on his arms. "What do you think - should I have asked for something in green so I can match my husband?" he asked, gesturing to Teddy.

Lily giggled and covered her mouth with both hands. "Das _silly_."

"Yeah, but I'd look good in it," Billy said, and Lily giggled again.

It wasn't too long before the others in the mansion began to trickle down. Sadie and Malin were with Elin and Chance - who had come in to snatch up John - but the three feral girls knew enough not to question when there was such a _small_ kid half attached to their mother.

"So that's what you'd look like blonde," Chance teased Elin quietly.

"Looks like," she agreed before they took a seat with John and then gave Lily a little smile.

Of course, Lily was wary of all of the newcomers and was hiding in K's shoulder as people came down to breakfast until, finally, she muttered to K, "I wanna go. I don' _wike_ dis."

"This is just our family," K told her.

"Dat's a lot," she muttered.

"There are," K agreed. "We like kids around here."

Lily held onto K's shirt and nodded slowly. "Okay. Dat's a _lot_."

K looked over to Billy. "When you're ready, she's getting a little overwhelmed, and we should sit down and figure this out _before_ the bamfs show up."

Billy nodded and simply reached over, and the three of them found themselves in the living room - thankfully devoid of smoke or dizziness for K, with Lily giggling to herself.

"I like Billy's magic twicks," she told K quietly.

"He's very good," K agreed before she looked up at Billy. "So. What's the plan?"

Billy gestured for the girls to sit down on the couch. "I didn't really have one other than stopping her from being killed," he admitted. "That's… why I came to you."

"Well, it was a good plan," K said. "So now, here we are. Best case scenario, what do you want to see, Billy? I can tell you right now, Logan will do whatever I want in this."

"You're her mom," Billy said. "It's up to you - I just want her to be safe and happy." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I know with James and everything, it's the worst possible time to drop something like this in your lap, and I'd understand if you're frustrated…"

"Logan would tell you there is no such thing as a worst possible time to get a kid out of danger," K told him.

"I tend to agree," Billy said. "I just meant… if you're too busy, Teddy and I can take her. I mean… I know I'm not all there, but … we'll figure it out."

"That might not be a bad idea on a supplementary basis at the very least anyhow." K turned to Lily. "What do you want to do? Do you want to stay with me, or would you rather go with magic pants with the stars in his eyes? Or … do you want to do both?"

Lily looked wide-eyed. "Do I haveta say bye-bye?"

"Nope," K said, shaking her head slowly. "Billy and Teddy are here most of the time, and I'm here with Logan and our kids."

Billy nodded. "We're moving into a suite," he said. "Teddy and I thought that would be better." He waved a hand in front of his eyes. "All things considered."

"I can make Scott put you close to us," K said. "Across the hall."

Billy nodded at that. "Would that be okay, Lily? If I was across the hall from your mom?"

Lily sized him up with her nose scrunched up. "Is dere lots of people?"

Billy smirked and shook his head. "Teddy and I have a little boy and a little girl, but they're much older than you. It's mostly just me and Teddy."

"And I have Logan, Sadie, Malin, and John with me," K said. "The others have their own rooms in the school."

Lily looked between Billy and K for a long time, her foot jiggling. "I don' know…"

"You can start with us if you like - and go back and forth too," K said.

"I wanna do dat," Lily said, letting her shoulders drop with relief. "Can I pwease?"

Billy smirked at K. "Joint custody?"

"Looks like," K said, nodding. "And you know - of course - you're both Godfather. Kate for mom?"

Billy grinned outright. "I love it."

Lily looked between the two of them before she climbed over to Billy and gave him a hug. "Can I go to your woom?" she asked.

Billy ruffled her hair. "After we put all our stuff in across the hall, okay?"

"Otay," she agreed, then simply melted into Billy's shoulder, letting Billy snuggle her while she was worn out from all of the excitement.


	21. Claws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING FOR END OF CHAPTER.

After Kate had finished her turn watching out for James and trying to get him to respond to… well, anything at all, really… she made it a point to grab Tyler (who had fallen asleep in Hank's office) on her way out to inform him that his pregnant wife needed some spoiling and that this was not an argument that they were going to have - not that she expected him to argue with something like that.

"I expect you to bring your kids down to play with _my grandbaby_ all the time, seeing as they'll be so close in age," Kate informed him in a totally no-nonsense tone, one hand on her hip and the other pointing a finger in his face to emphasize to him that she absolutely meant every word.

"Only if you bring your grandbaby up to visit sometimes too. You're the one with instant transport; I can't do all the work here," Tyler teased right back, which got an affectionate sort of huff out of Kate as she hit him lightly on the arm.

"I keep slipping Chelsea to your wife anyway. She looked like she needed that reminder of the fun part of babies, you know?" Kate said as they stepped into the elevator.

"Well, twins," Tyler said with a sheepish kind of look. "She's pretty miserable lately, and I can't do a thing about it." He shook his head. "Can't heal what happens naturally."

"But it's sweet that you want to try," Kate said, squeezing his arm.

When they got upstairs, Tammy was of course where Kate had left her with Chelsea, though both of them were passed out asleep - which had Kate making a little 'aww' noise from the very back of her throat. And nearby, K was on the couch in the living room, partly reclined with her eyes closed and frowning to herself with a little blonde girl half wrapped around her, though it was clear K was whispering something to the little girl. And the blonde was nodding solemnly to all of it.

Kate smiled widely as she stepped in the door with Tyler. "And who's this?" she asked warmly.

K glanced up at her and tipped her head to the side. "It's complicated, but her name is Lily."

Kate smiled at the little girl as she made her way over, and Tyler gave her a warm smile as well and a wave - but as soon as Lily saw Tyler, she let out a strangled, terrified sort of sound and scrambled into K's arms, clutching K's shirt and sobbing hysterically.

"No, no," K said, hugging her closer and letting her hide her face. "Hey, it's okay, that's not who you think it is," she said quietly. "He's like you - a very sweet kid. His name is Tyler."

Tyler had stopped where he was, frowning and honestly concerned on seeing Lily's reaction, though he was sure to give her his very warmest smile when she looked up at him. "I promise I won't hurt you," he said quietly before he gestured to Tammy asleep with Chelsea. "I just came to say hi to my wife. She's very pretty, isn't she?"

Lily barely picked her head up from K, still clearly terrified, before she glanced over at Tammy and very slowly nodded while big, fat alligator tears rolled down her cheeks.

"If he was anything like Sabretooth, I would have killed him myself by now," K promised. "Tyler is a good guy, and he has scars from _his dad_ just like you do." She gave Tyler an almost apologetic look but kept Lily close, trying to settle her out.

Eventually, Lily did look up at Tyler again, her nose scrunched up as she tried to work it out. After all, Tyler hadn't done a thing that was mean yet. "So … so he's a … he's a brover?" she asked slowly.

"Yes," K agreed, nodding. "He's a brother."

Lily bit her lip as she looked over at Tyler and then nodded slowly. "O-tay," she said before she put her face back in K's chest.

"You want to know something neat about Tyler?" K asked, trying to catch her gaze. "He really, really made Sabretooth mad because he can heal other people when they get hurt."

Lily picked her head up at that, her eyes wide, before she looked over at Tyler in concern. "Is Tywer o-tay?" she asked K in a whisper. "Das reawy scawy when Samertoof is mad."

K smiled at that and shook her head. "Tyler is fine. Logan killed Sabretooth a long time ago."

"And I've got a new dad now," Tyler said. "A much better one."

"You'll like him," K said. "He's like a giant blue teddy bear."

Lily smiled at that and looked back toward Tyler. "Das good you gots a new dad." She held up her hand to show all five fingers, frowned at her hand, then took a moment to pin down two fingers and hold her hand up again. "I gots _fwee_ new dads."

As Tyler grinned at the little girl, Kate cleared her throat. "Okay. The love fest of the blondes is adorable but um. Isn't this… physically… impossible?" she asked, gesturing to the tiny girl.

"She's mine in a different reality," K said. "Billy and I are sharing custody. So like she said, this little sweetie gets three dads."

Kate grinned at that. "You're really lucky, Lily. Billy is one of my best friends in the universe."

Lily smiled. "I wike him."

"Me too." Kate leaned forward with a spark of trouble in her gaze. "I've got lots of good stories about him from when he was a kid if you ever want to hear them."

Lily glanced up at K and let out a little giggle, then covered her mouth with both hands as she scrunched up, still giggling.

"You're going to want to give Kate a hug," K told her quietly. "Since she's going to be your Godmother."

Lily looked up at Kate with wide eyes before and a gasp before she very quickly hopped down and climbed up to wrap her arms around Kate's neck in a hug, and Kate broke into a little surprised laugh before she hugged her right back.

"Oh yeah," Kate said. "You're going to be totally spoiled."

K turned toward Tyler with a little shake of her head. "Apparently, this is what we get when I have a tiny Creed in a weapons facility." She shrugged. "Still way sweeter than most. And smart as a whip."

"All of which she gets from you," he said with a smirk.

"Obviously. So far, all she got from your dad was the coloring."

"We'll see which way the claws go eventually," Tyler pointed out.

"Should be able to tell now if we took an X-ray, but she's shy of labs. So let's not do that unless she needs it," K said.

Tyler nodded his agreement. "I could probably tell from a scan, but we'll wait until she's a little less…" He gestured toward her.

"Let her get to know you better," K agreed. "Just keep being your sweet self and it'll be no time." She leaned closer to Tyler. "She's got a sweet tooth. That also is not from me."

Tyler leaned forward. "Oh, so is _that_ where I get it from?"

"I assumed your mother was like that, but I know for a _fact_ Victor had a major thing for junk food. Of all kinds," K said.

"I'll file that away under 'things I keep learning about the guy'," Tyler said, shaking his head. He glanced toward Lily and then smiled K's way. "But just so you're warned, that's my little sister. So she's invited to family events from now on."

"Good. I think for the crap start she had - and the fact that I'm pretty sure she watched her reality's version of me die - she needs all the family she can get."

Tyler frowned at that and pulled K into a quick hug. "Yeah, if you could not do that here, we'd all appreciate it. For the record."

She smirked up at him before she gave him a hug back. "Yeah, no plans for that. I have obligations to attend to. One in particular that I am rather fond of."

"Just the one?" Tyler asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"No, of course not, but the one is the reason for the others," K replied. "So it's kind of important to me that I keep him happy."

Tyler just chuckled at that. "I can understand that." He tipped his head toward his sleeping wife. "I mean, I got pretty lucky that way too."

"You just needed someone to see past the horrible and tragic family resemblance and realize you were the sweetest blonde around," K said.

"Second sweetest," Tyler said with a smirk. "Tammy's got that title."

"Oooh, I don't know. I may have to give it to Teddy. By obligation now, you know."

Tyler chuckled. "Well, if we're going by obligation, even if my mom's more gray than blonde now…"

"And we'll just have to see where Lily falls on the scale once she gets past the trauma," K said with a nod.

"And I've got two girls on the way," Tyler pointed out.

She waved a hand. "You don't stand a chance. This one is half me."

Tyler let out a bark of a laugh. "Yeah, but mine are an extra generation removed from my evil doppleganger."

"Yes, but my awesome just totally erases evil influences," she said, gesturing to the game of peekaboo Lily and Kate were playing. "Obviously. _From a weapons plant._ "

Tyler couldn't help but concede the point just because Lily was being so cute. "Alright, yeah, pretty impressive." He got up and stretched. "But mine will be adorable too, so be prepared for the army of cute blondes."

"Of course they will," K agreed. "We'll add them to Logan's roster, I'm sure."

Tyler smirked at that. "Probably," he had to agree before he slipped over to sit with Tammy.

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since James had woken up, and even though the flow of visitors was pretty steady, he hadn't spoken to anyone. Every single person that came in was like a reminder of everything he'd done wrong, and he honestly couldn't speak if he'd tried.

The lump in his throat felt almost physical, and he really couldn't think of a thing to say that would begin to cover how awful he felt about all of it. He hadn't fought Hank or Tyler when they'd come in, though he thought they were wasting their time. And though most of the damage from the surgery had finally healed, the adults had been reluctant to allow him out of their sight. So rather than risk letting him out of the lab and letting him slip away from whoever was supposed to watch him, they kept him there.

James shifted in the chair - at least finally out of the bed. He knew they didn't trust him. He didn't blame them, either. He wasn't worth trusting. He flexed his fingers, watching the shake in his hand as he did so. It was stupid, he knew, but everything still hurt from the bonding process. HIs head was pounding, and just about every part of his body felt like it was throbbing, though he knew that was just the phantom pain that went with a rapid healing. He wondered vaguely how long it was going to keep up, if it would have been shorter if his healing was still working or if it was one of those that was just going to ache for months until he got so used to it, he almost didn't notice it in the background of everything he did.

It was an odd sensation next to the fact that he _couldn't_ feel his skin. James could remember clearly the moment that Apocalypse had been cleared from his mind, because in that instant, the searing, maddening heat that had torn through his psyche had very suddenly spread to his body, and he knew as he registered the fires around him that even if Rachel hadn't had him stretched to his limits, he wouldn't have been able to move from the pain. He could barely breathe just thinking about it, and he closed his eyes tightly and covered his eyes with one hand, trying to force the images away. He couldn't sleep without waking up from dreams of burning alive. Hell, he could hardly close his eyes and not _see_ the flames around him or stop the memory of the smell of his own flesh burning.

James had no idea how bad the burns had gotten before Rachel had stopped. Logic said it had to be at least third degree, though by the way Tyler talked, it had gone beyond that. All James could recall was begging her to finish the job. That … that had been the first bit of hope he'd felt since Vanessa had died, and he had been _crushed_ when Rachel didn't follow through. He was sure she could have turned the fire up just a little bit more. Just enough to completely burn all of the soft tissue - melt the adamantium - and that would have been it. She was certainly angry enough to do it. The rage and hatred she was projecting into his mind as she tore through it, burning so, so much … it all sounded like screaming and roaring fire in his head.

And he simply couldn't wrap his mind around why she'd stopped. Unless that was his punishment. To be stuck in this endless loop of aching heat in his bones, sore, weak-feeling muscles, and skin that was so numb, he couldn't feel even a trickle of sweat or blood, all while spiraling deeper into the pit of self loathing. His own body felt foreign, and the haze in his mind …

He just wanted out. It was all he could think about.

He'd lost track of time entirely since he'd woken up, and he was just staring at nothing, reliving bits and pieces of all of it as his mind remade connections that had been destroyed by fire. So it didn't register for a long moment that _Rachel_ had decided to step in and take a little time with him for the first time since he'd woken up. Or, at least, the first time that he was aware of. She _had_ been by several times to take a look and to talk to Hank or Logan or K, but she hadn't worked up the nerve to talk to _James._

He didn't know how long she'd been there before she finally cleared her throat and said 'hi' to get his attention, and then, he slowly looked her way and stared blankly back at her. He didn't have it in him to listen to _anyone_ keep telling him how _well_ he was recovering or telling him not to worry about it.

Not that Rachel did either of those things. The truth was that she had been there for a while, quietly listening to his thoughts that were so much easier to read when his mind was still recovering from all she'd done to it. Even after Quentin had put up defenses, he was projecting all that he was reliving, and so, she was acutely aware of how much damage she had done to him even beyond the physical and telepathic damage.

She'd traumatized him and taken him well past his breaking point, and she was sitting there thinking that even rebuilding his mind and bringing him back to his family wasn't enough to make up for it.

She was honestly surprised that he'd even acknowledged her presence; she knew that he had fallen back on ignoring anyone who came with well-wishes. And though she had an apology, she couldn't find it. She just felt _so_ horrible. Especially when she could hear in his thoughts that he wanted her to finish what she'd started, and she didn't have the right words to apologize for what she'd done and _not_ leave him thinking she was apologizing for sparing his life.

For a long while, that's how it was, with the two of them just staring at each other, with Rachel reaching for the right words and James half holding his breath … until he realized she wasn't going to _do_ anything. All at once, his whole expression shifted, and he blinked a few times, swallowed hard, and shrank back in on himself in a crushing wave of hopelessness. He should have known she wouldn't finish the job.

Rachel heard the shift; it hit her like being slammed into a wall. And all at once, she was sure she'd only made things worse by coming there.

She only waited long enough to see that Hank was coming so that James wouldn't be alone before she managed a quiet "excuse me" Hank's way on her way _out_ , one hand over her mouth, blaming herself, of course, for how much James was _still_ suffering.

Hank frowned after Rachel but didn't press, focused on his patient as he pushed up James' sleeve to pull yet another blood sample, and James watched with a slight frown as he did so. He couldn't feel the cold of the alcohol or the poke of the needle, though he knew exactly what both of those things _should_ feel like. It was like watching it happen to someone else's body, and James suddenly felt as if that was what the trouble was. This was no longer his body. Hank was saying something, but it really wasn't penetrating his thoughts as he watched the blood flow. It would have been different if he could have _felt_ it.

"Put pressure on," Hank said as he pressed the cotton to the crook of his arm. "I'll be back to tell you how this looks." He gave James a little smile and patted his knee before he got up and left. Shortly after he did, James lifted the gauze and stared as the little pinprick started to bleed again. He frowned deeper, and as the thought entered his mind, everything seemed to clear out.

The screaming pain faded into the background. The crushing sensation in his chest eased, and though his thoughts became less jumbled, he could feel the frown slipping off of his face. It was so. Simple. He closed his eyes and relaxed, reaching out into the darkness of his own thoughts, blindly searching until he could recall the scents without the stimulus. _There_. Coconut, the open ocean with a warm breeze … heat-baked sand and the way her skin smelled warmed by the sun ... and the desperate ache in his chest that ticked up when he thought of those scents together. He could _almost_ hear her laugh.

He turned his head slightly, looking toward the bed, and before he could reason himself out of it, he curled his hand into a fist and held it to his chest. A ringing _snikt_ echoed the lab, and he couldn't stop the guttural sound that slipped past his lips as his eyes flew open at the pain - with every nerve in his body firing at once. He didn't feel it when he retracted his claws, but he did feel the deep pain and the seeping hot wetness as it poured down his chest and soaked into the fabric just before he closed his eyes and slumped forward out of the chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this one ... the next one will be coming along shortly!


End file.
